Same with JK Rowling, Kanye West, Notch, etc. It’s literally so fucking easy for people like this to remain loved by everyone. Just keep your fucking mouth shut. Give nice polite interviews about your job, stay out of politics, let a boring publicity agent manage your social media for you, and enjoy your billions of dollars in peace.
Why is it so hard?
I’m paraphrasing here (see https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/28/elon-musks-shadow-rule) but Musk 'desperately wants to save the Earth, but thinks only he can do it".
I would have a think tank. I would pay a hundred or so smart people obscene amounts of money to tell me my ideas are daft and come up with really great ideas for me.
The mind boggles as to why someone like musk doesn’t do this. It would be like achieving global eternal financial domination on easy mode. A world hack if you will. It would cost a mere fraction of his wealth.
Imagine if every descision you made was well informed and well reasoned instead of just shit.
Why should they care about being loved by people they don’t care about? It’s normal to have the desire to express your political opinion.