The Myth of the Super-CEO: Why Musk’s Coup Is Hiding in Plain Sight

We have just twenty-four hours in a day. That’s it—no matter how brilliant or resourceful you are, you can’t conjure a twenty-fifth hour out of thin air. It’s as self-evident as saying two plus two equals four. Yet we’re being asked to believe that Elon Musk, already juggling the leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X/Twitter, Neuralink, xAI, and God-knows-what else, is simultaneously reorganizing the entire federal government through the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Let’s cut the bullshit: no human can run six massive enterprises at once, plus retool the government. It’s physically impossible. This myth is about as believable as a cartoon Nazi villain who can fly and shoot laser beams—only more dangerous because some people are gullible enough to believe it.

The Myth of the Tech Superhero

We’ve been conditioned by the media and by Musk’s own PR blitz to see him as a superhuman innovator. He’s the genius behind Tesla, SpaceX, and more—fine. But guess what? Those successes are exactly why it’s insane to imagine he can also be the Director of a federal department. Tesla alone would fully consume the attention of any normal CEO, especially in the brutally competitive global auto industry. And that’s before we even factor in the demands of rocket science at SpaceX, running a major social media platform, dabbling in brain implants, venturing into AI, and now overseeing official U.S. government business.

When someone insists that the laws of time, attention, and basic competence don’t apply, we should call it what it is: gaslighting.

The Coup Happening in Plain Sight

While we argue about whether Musk can really do it all, our government is being hijacked. It’s not hyperbole or lefty alarmism:

• Private operatives are waltzing into Treasury payment systems.
• Civil servants are getting purged for following security protocols.
• Agencies that Congress established are being shut down without legal authority.

This is a coup—an ongoing, real-time conversion of the U.S. government into a tool of private power. And the “Musk is some omnipotent genius” storyline distracts us from the fact that none of this is legitimate. This is exactly how autocrats operate: flood the airwaves with disinformation, sow doubt about obvious truths, and keep everyone too confused to notice power being grabbed.

Conflict of Interest on Steroids

Musk’s situation is a scandal of epic proportions. The law is crystal clear:

• 18 U.S.C. § 208: Prohibits federal officials from taking part in any matter where they have a financial interest. If you’re in the government, you can’t also sit at the helm of companies that directly benefit from government decisions. Period.
• Ethics in Government Act: Demands comprehensive financial disclosures. It was passed post-Watergate to curb abuses of public power for private gain.
• STOCK Act of 2012: Bars federal officials from using nonpublic information to make a personal profit.
• Hatch Act: Restricts federal employees from using their official authority to influence elections and from using government resources for partisan political gain.

Musk is smashing every single one of these safeguards to bits. As head of DOGE, he has direct access to government data and systems that could sway the stock prices or profit margins of Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and beyond. He also controls X/Twitter, a massive social media platform, which he uses to shape public opinion—sometimes about issues and agencies he now oversees as a government official. That’s not just a conflict of interest; that’s a conflict the size of Texas.

Zero Presidential Authority to Ignore Basic Law

Donald Trump or any other president can’t override conflict-of-interest laws, full stop. You can’t sign an executive order to make “two plus two equal five” or conjure extra hours in a day. Our Constitution doesn’t allow personal rule—it institutes the rule of law. When federal statutes say you can’t do certain things, nobody gets to wave a magic wand and just ignore them.

If we accept that the president can “waive” conflict-of-interest or ethics laws whenever they’re inconvenient, then what laws remain meaningfully in force? That opens the door to an autocracy where laws are enforced only when it suits the powerful.

A National Security Nightmare

Musk’s connections to China add a terrifying layer. He’s praised the Chinese Communist Party repeatedly. Meanwhile, China is one of the United States’ primary global rivals in technology and geopolitics. If a typical federal employee showed this kind of coziness with a foreign adversary, they’d be flagged as a security risk in a heartbeat. Yet Musk, now with top-level access to Treasury systems and classified data, seems to be operating with zero oversight or accountability.

A Messianic Complex with Real Power

Musk has also displayed a tendency to see himself as a near-messianic figure—someone who will “save humanity” through Mars colonization or single-handedly “champion free speech.” That vision might just be quirky if he were simply a billionaire doing his own thing. But when the same person starts helping dismantle entire government agencies while threatening to use his wealth to coerce politicians, it’s no longer eccentric. It’s a direct assault on our democracy.

It’s not just that Musk thinks he’s special—it’s that he has the power and platform to implement his whims. We’re witnessing the conversion of public institutions into vehicles for private ambitions. That kind of shit is lethal to a free society, and it can happen faster than we think.

Threats to Competitors and the Free Market

At the same time, Musk is threatening to use his wealth against rival politicians and business competitors. This merges government power with private power in a way that crushes the idea of fair competition. The Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause doesn’t just apply to individual rights—it ensures that government authority isn’t abused to favor some businesses over others. When Musk sits in a big federal chair and also threatens to kneecap companies like OpenAI, we’re venturing into a corporate-state oligarchy where only Musk’s interests thrive.

Boiling the Frog

The scariest part is our collective numbness. Every single thing in this story is well-documented. Yet so many people just shrug it off, as if everything’s business as usual. The normalization of this unprecedented power grab is how democracy dies. It doesn’t vanish in one big event; it’s chipped away, day after day, crisis after crisis, until the Bill of Rights looks like a quaint relic.

Where We Go from Here

1. Recognize the Reality: We cannot keep indulging the idea that Musk can legally and effectively run multiple major corporations and a federal department at once. It’s physically impossible and blatantly illegal.
2. Enforce the Law: No matter how wealthy or “visionary” someone might be, conflict-of-interest laws, ethics rules, and national security protocols exist for a reason. They must be enforced if we want to remain a nation of laws.
3. Demand Accountability: Congress, the courts, and the press can’t be cowed by wealth or corporate mythology. They owe it to the American people to investigate and hold accountable anyone who undermines constitutional governance.
4. Refuse the Gaslighting: Two plus two will always equal four. Musk cannot defy time or legal statutes, no matter how many tweets or press releases suggest otherwise.

If we don’t act, we risk turning into a society where the lines between public authority and private ambition are completely erased, and decisions are made by the highest bidder or the biggest bully. That’s not democracy. That’s a corporate-run shell of a government, and it sure as hell won’t serve the people.

There are only twenty-four hours in a day. We can’t reinvent math to make it 25, and we can’t make a coup “constitutional” just because a billionaire’s backing it. Let’s stop pretending otherwise and stand up for the democracy we claim to cherish.