Elon Musk is arguably the celebrity of the year.
His fame and influence have spread throughout the U.S. and the world. Even as he's lost his crown as the world's richest man, he's become a central topic of conversation by building leading companies and speaking out on almost all subjects.
Internationally, he has particularly distinguished himself by providing Starlink, the satellite Internet access service developed by SpaceX, to Ukraine, on which Russia effectively declared war on Feb. 24. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002.
The world thus discovered this secure and independent internet service, which enables the Ukrainians to communicate worldwide and tell their version of the conflict. And on the military front, since Russia destroyed most of the Ukrainian telecommunications infrastructure, Starlink technology prevents the Russians from listening in to the Ukrainians.
On the domestic scene, Musk acquired the microblogging platform Twitter for $44 billion after a six-month battle marked by twists and turns including his withdrawal of the offer and then his return to the negotiating table.
Since then, he has made the social network a weapon against his designated enemies -- the progressives and the Democratic Party partisans in general -- in the name of free speech. He calls himself a free-speech absolutist.
'Crazy Stalker' Followed Car Carrying Musk Son
Musk's Twitter efforts have frightened many advertisers, who at least for now have paused their ads on the social network. They do not want to see their products and services posted alongside hateful, racist and antisemitic speech.
Daily attacks on Democrats have become a game for Musk, who basically considers everyone who opposes him an enemy of free speech.
His slightest statements and decisions are covered by the media -- and this overexposure seems to have come at a cost.
Musk has just revealed that he has a stalker. Someone, he said, followed a car with one of his young children, a son named X, on board in Los Angeles on Dec. 13. Whoever it was apparently believed that the billionaire was in the vehicle.
"Last night, car carrying lil X in LA was followed by crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked car from moving & climbed onto hood," the billionaire said on Twitter. "Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family."
Jack Sweeney is a student who created a Twitter account to track the movements of Musk's personal jet.
That account, @ElonJet, was suspended by Twitter on Dec. 14. The billionaire had earlier indicated that this account was a threat to his security because it gave precise information on his movements.
"Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info. Posting locations someone traveled to on a slightly delayed basis isn’t a safety problem, so is ok," Musk announced. Doxxing is posting private identifying information about a person on the internet, usually maliciously.
The billionaire then posted an 11-second video of a man in a Hyundai wearing a balaclava. Musk does not say how he got the video, but he says the man was the stalker who was tracking the vehicle with his son on board. He asks for help from anyone who recognizes the individual.
"Anyone recognize this person or car?" the tech mogul posted with the video.
"Whoa is this the guy that jumped in the hood? 🤬🤬🤬," one Twitter user asked Musk.
"Yeah," he responded.
'Suggestions Are Welcome'
"I REPEAT, Elon needs the absolute strongest, toughest security that a human on Earth can get," a Twitter account from Tesla fans commented. "This is no joke."
"The power of Twitter is being showcased with this one post. In a matter of seconds, now the world is looking for this man," the same account added.
"Suggestions are welcome," Musk replied.
The short video already had almost 10 million views at last check.
A few days ago, Musk said his life was in serious danger.
"Frankly the risk of something bad happening to me, or even literally being shot, is quite significant,” the billionaire told Twitter users during a two-hour Dec. 3 Q&A on Twitter Spaces.
"It’s not that hard to kill somebody if you wanted to, so hopefully they don’t, and fate smiles upon the situation with me and it does not happen … There’s definitely some risk there," he added.
He said that he "definitely" would not "be doing any open-air car parades, let me put it that way.”
Musk did not say whether he had received any specific threats.
