Elon Musk is the richest man in the world. And, apparently, he’s the saddest.
That’s according to filmmaker Alex Gibney, who relayed the assessment from someone who worked closely with Musk. Gibney’s forthcoming film, Musk, was previewed by The Hollywood Reporter.
“Someone who worked closely with Elon told me, ‘He’s the most miserable man I’ve ever met.’ So he’s inflicting his misery on everyone else,” Gibney told the outlet.
In Gibney’s film, which premieres this fall, he tackles the 55-year-old’s worst impulses—and how this unelected, unchecked figure shapes much of what we see in American politics today. Musk has made no secret of his thirst for power, notably during the 2024 presidential election, when he funneled more than $290 million into Donald Trump’s last presidential campaign and hosted town halls in swing states. He famously gave away a $1 million check to a rallygoer selected at random after they signed a petition to support a PAC he created.
Questions about his obscure data-collecting efforts and the role he plans to play in forthcoming elections also remain unanswered. In his documentary, Gibney hammers home that Musk’s brief stint at the helm of an army of twentysomething men known as the “DOGE” squad involved dismantling USAID programs around the world; the X owner gained access to the data on tens of millions of Americans.
What, exactly, he does with that information is unknown. Combined with the data he has already obtained through his control of X, that information makes him an undeniable force in American politics.
According to the person quoted by Gibney, Musk does it all to fill the bleakness he feels within himself. Other times, perhaps he fills that void by lashing out at others.
Just ask President Donald Trump, who has privately admitted he was hurt by Musk after their nuclear fallout, according to recent reports.
After the 80-year-old president returned to the White House in part due to Musk, it wasn’t long before the relationship went awry. It came to a head in a very public feud, which included Musk claiming in an X post that Trump “is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.” The allegation was unsupported, and Musk later deleted the post.
