Elon Musk has unprecedented influence that spans multiple industries — and our fate is in his hands

• Fearless Media is a newsletter about the future of entertainment, media, and tech by Creative Media chairman Peter Csathy.
• Elon Musk's wields immense influence that spans technology, space, communications, and transporation.
• His far-reching impact on our lives is extensive and raises concerns about unchecked power.

The following article was originally published August 30, 2023 on Fearless Media.

Elon Musk. The world's richest man. Also perhaps its most polarizing (check that, maybe the second after "The Indicted One"). Love him or hate him, we're all beholden to Musk.

And I'm not just talking about global communications and Twitter/X's strategic importance to the worlds of media and entertainment, not to mention global leaders themselves. I'm talking about the most sensitive aspects of life on the planet period.

Musk, in many ways, rules our lives, yet few of us — apparently including governments like our own — fully appreciate that. Nor do we fully appreciate the risks that come with so much control held in the hands of one person, especially as those hands seemingly become shakier and more erratic each day.

Musk controls speech on Twitter/X

We all know the risks that flow from our long-time dependence on, and obsession with, Twitter/X. As I've written before, Musk champions himself as being the Great Libertarian and defender of the First Amendment.

Yet, at the same time, he throttles down access to rival websites and suspends the Twitter/X accounts of journalists who challenge him. Musk is all for free speech, so long as that speech does not compete with his empire or bite his thin skin.

But Musk's control over speech with which he disagrees can go much deeper than that, with profound implications for everyone on the planet.

Musk also controls nearly 5,000 satellites with Starlink

Many forget that Musk also controls the skies well above us all around the globe. Literally. Over the past several years, Musk quietly has launched and deployed nearly 5,000 communications satellites that envelop the upper atmosphere to facilitate seamless broadband in every nook and cranny on the planet, many of which previously had none available.

And that "Starlink" system (as he calls it) has played a crucial role in Ukraine's defense against Russia's brutal attacks. Without it, top Ukrainian military planners say they could not have achieved the type of success the underdog has had against a ruthless power with resources that dwarf their own.

Musk provides this critical communications link now to Ukraine — a link that no other entity, including the US government — can offer.

But what if Musk changes his mind tomorrow? Let's not forget that Musk holds some, shall we say, strong views about all things, including politics. And he also has massive business interests all around the world, including in Russia and especially in China.

So if Musk finds it to be strategically beneficial to point his satellites one way rather than another, his singular decision has profound implications on our collective global security, including the potential deployment of nuclear weapons.

Musk dominates space with SpaceX

And Musk's Starlink satellite system is just part of his overall space dominance of course with SpaceX. Starlink is made possible by SpaceX, which revolutionized commercial space flight and exploration.

Once again, Musk has done what once-mighty NASA could never do — develop truly reusable spacecraft to completely transform the economics of space activity.

Now NASA turns to Musk too when it needs to launch its most sensitive satellite systems and more.

Musk transformed the global auto industry with Tesla

Wait, we're not done yet. Tesla, of course, single-handedly brought electric cars into the mainstream, transforming the entire global auto industry in the process. But it goes deeper than that.

Central to Musk's evil genius is his ability to get us all hooked (and dependent) on his technology, and that happens here too. Musk's Tesla charging stations have become the industry standard for other manufacturers as well (including Ford and General Motors), meaning that Musk's decisions about how and where to charge our cars drive the entire national transportation system.

Oh yes, Musk also has The Boring Company to drill new underground pathways to ultimately get us from here to there.

Musk is also "all in" on artificial intelligence with xAI and Neuralink

Are you exhausted and sufficiently stressed yet? Well then look out for this one. Musk, of course, is also now "all in" on artificial intelligence and is hunting down AI pioneers like OpenAI (which he cofounded) to achieve preeminence in that burgeoning and society transforming space.

Demonstrating that he is either a space alien himself or simply can squeeze in a week in every single day, Musk just launched his new AI startup called xAI.

As if that weren't enough, his stealthy Silicon Valley company Neuralink wants to connect our brains to the Internet. Literally, via electrodes. And he has been testing those connections with mice, rats and monkeys for years (much to the chagrin of animal rights activists) and plans to begin human trials in months. The FDA just recently caved and granted him his long-sought approvals.

Musk got his start with PayPal and the global monetary system

Let's go back to Musk's "humble" origin story. Musk earned his initial fortune by co-creating PayPal and disrupting global payments in the process. So Musk has injected himself in the global monetary system for decades.

His "hands in the cookie" jar approach is likely to take a substantial new turn as he integrates next generation payments, particularly largely-unregulated blockchain-enabled crypto, into his app formerly known as Twitter and now simply called X. X marks the spot for his aspirational Super App to become the center of the universe for every individual decision we make (and the deeply personal data that comes with it).

Musk's fingerprints, in other words, are all over virtually every major aspect of our lives, not to mention society's and that of the entire world order itself.

No other captain of industry has ever come close, not even the great Steve Jobs. With that immense power comes great responsibility and tremendous judgment and humility, of course.

Sadly — and frighteningly — those are not Musk's strong suits.

Peter Csathy is the founder and chairman of Creativie Media and an internationally recognized media, entertainment, and tech expert.