Elon Musk has been part of our daily lives for several months now.
His omnipresence on social media and in particular on the microblogging website Twitter, which he wants to buy for $44 billion, makes it difficult to escape a post, an article or a thundering statement from the world's richest man. His fortune is estimated at $208 billion as of June 30, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
He is the only person in the world to be part of the $200 billion club.
His daily presence has an impact: we have the impression that we know him. Everyone has their own opinion about him. His fans swear by him. To listen to them, Musk is the only genius of our time. They would entrust him with the key to the planet if there was one.
To his detractors, Musk is an egomaniac, a narcissist whose sole purpose is to get people talking about him. Consequently, they fear its acquisition of Twitter (TWTR), which Musk describes as the de facto Times Square of our time.
'Twitter Me & Real-Life Me'
Even those who are neutral have an opinion on the whimsical and charismatic serial entrepreneur. They reproach him for his rowdy statements. They would like to see him more nuanced, less black or white. They believe that gray is sometimes good.
In the end, it turns out that we know little about the tech tycoon. Indeed, that is what he seems to tell us. Musk just gave us a guide to understanding him. And this guide is super hero character Bruce Banner in the Marvel Comics' universe.
Banner is a nerd and scientist, who when angry transforms into Hulk, the Jade Giant, known for his multiple personalities.
"Twitter me & real-life me are quite different haha!" Musk posted on June 21.
The billionaire accompanied the tweet with two images: on the left we see Bruce Banner transformed into an angry Hulk. On the right, Banner is calm, wears the glasses. It's hard to imagine that he too is on the right.
Above each image, Musk inscribed a message. Regarding the image of Banner transforming into an angry Hulk he wrote: "Elon Musk in Twitter." As for the image on the left, the mogul presents it as: "Elon Musk in interviews."
These posts are Musk's last messages before he retreated into silence. Since that date the mogul has not appeared on social media.
Unfiltered Musk vs. Thoughtful Musk
Chief executive office of Tesla (TSLA) seems to say that on Twitter he is unfiltered. He lets himself go, does not control himself and lets burst everything he has in him, everything he wants to say without worrying about what people will say. He is less restrained. He doesn't really think when he's on social media.
On the other hand, once he is in front of the media, he is another Musk. He is more calm, more thoughtful, and less spontaneous.
Hulk is the alter ego of the shy scientist Banner. This appeared after Banner was accidentally exposed to a massive dose of gamma rays. Therefore, as soon as the researcher feels a strong emotion such as anger or stress and fear, he turns into a real, almost invincible monster that destroys everything in his path.
Hulk is nevertheless one of the most popular heroes of the Marvel universe and is often a victim since all he wants is to live in peace but he is constantly hunted down by the other heroes or the government who either want to use him or destroy him because they fear his strength.
Stan Lee, the co-creator of the Hulk, confessed in interviews that to create the Jade Giant, he was inspired by two mythical fictional characters, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because of the double personality. The character Dr. Jekyll was a researcher who turns into a monster. He was also inspired by Frankenstein, a monster who only aspires to live in peace but who is constantly hunted down by other people who fear him.
But the most important thing is that Hulk draws his strength from anger and hatred because in times of stress or nervousness his strength increases and then knows no limits. Hulk is almost invincible and often the only way to defeat him is to appease him and calm his fury.
