When you're a person of the status of Elon Musk, one of the most widely-known public figures in the world today, you pick up a lot of fans and haters alike along the way.
Musk can't really control who says what about him, but on Tuesday he picked up a ringing endorsement from another infamous public figure: Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Related: Elon Musk sheds new light on controversial decision he was criticized for
Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, Putin praised the Tesla (TSLA) -) CEO and SpaceX founder as a "talented businessman" and an "outstanding person," while commenting on his country's space program according to CNBC.
“Elon Musk ... is undoubtedly an outstanding person. It must be admitted. I think the whole world admits it. He is an active, talented businessman,” Putin said.
Musk's involvement in the war between Russia and Ukraine has been in the news recently after he revealed that he refused an emergency request to extend coverage of SpaceX's Starlink satellites in Crimea, the region Russia invaded and annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
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There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2023
The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor.
If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and…
"Ever since he was a scrawny and socially awkward kid getting beaten up on his school playground in South Africa, Elon Musk has liked to imagine himself as a hero rushing to the rescue, engaged in epic quests," Walter Isaacson, a professor of history at Tulane University and the author of the new biography "Elon Musk," wrote in an excerpt of the book.
"The war in Ukraine, when no other company or even country could manage to keep communications satellites working, gave him a center-stage opportunity to show his humanitarian instincts while playing superhero."
Government officials, according to the New York Times and the New Yorker, remain concerned about Musk's private control over such an important military asset, with some referring to him as an unelected official.
Musk continued to restrict Ukraine's Starlink access along the frontlines, eventually setting off a question of financial burdens and support, prompting a late-night phone conversation between Musk and Isaacson.
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