Elon Musk, head of Tesla & SpaceX & owner of Twitter, has become a neo-reactionary online troll. What has caused his troubling political transformation? In a captivating essay, Richard Cooke explores Musk’s spectacular ambition, and how it has shaped his transition from unorthodox liberal to trolling neo-reactionary. How did the richest man in the world transform from a self-described moderate to a staunch advocate for hardline US conservatives? Why did Musk purchase Twitter, only to welcome back white nationalists and Holocaust deniers, sometimes personally? Dark Star explores the roots of this turning in Musk’s rise to power and what his evolution reveals about a wider shift in the politics of Silicon Valley & beyond. Cooke examines this new ‘mystical right’, its entrepreneurial fanbase, its varying commitment to free speech, and its ready engagement with the online far-right.
