Elon Musk faced a global backlash just a few days ago after he agreed with a social media user who had posted antisemitic content on Musk's social media platform, X. Multinational corporations from Apple to Walt Disney pulled millions of dollars in advertising from the site in protest over hateful and racist commentary next to ads for their products.
But on Monday, Musk was rubbing shoulders with Israel’s political elite, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he visited some of the locations where the Islamic militant group Hamas murdered 1,200 people on Oct. 7.
For all of Musk’s stumbles, world leaders can’t afford to criticize or alienate him for long: The world’s richest person holds the keys to powerful technological tools.