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Former featured article candidateElon Musk is a former featured article candidate. Please view the links under Article milestones below to see why the nomination was archived. For older candidates, please check the archive.
Good articleElon Musk has been listed as one of the Social sciences and society good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Did You Know Article milestones
DateProcessResult
June 4, 2021Good article nomineeListed
July 24, 2021Peer reviewNot reviewed
August 23, 2022Featured article candidateNot promoted
November 1, 2022Good article reassessmentKept
Did You Know A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on June 15, 2021.
The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that Elon Musk lost $16.3 billion in a single day, the largest in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index?
Current status: Former featured article candidate, current good article

RfC: Opening paragraph and linking child articles

Should the sentence "His political activities and views have made him a polarizing figure." be added to the end of the opening paragraph to further establish context for notability, and to include links to child articles earlier in lead? RFCBEFORE: here and here. Edit: corrected the wikilinks as shown in diff.

Yes/No. Feel free to suggest alternative wording, the above is based on current lead wording.[1] CNC (talk) 11:23, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

At present I believe there is a clear imbalance of child article linking in the opening paragraph that I consider to be gatekeeping. I also think this fits better with summary style guidelines, and while it's not explicitly a guideline to link relevant/notable child articles in the opening paragraph, it's good practice to do so when convenient and possible to do so. Based on view count also, which is correlated to notability, there are far more views for the Views article, with Business career being as popular as Political activities and Public image. At present, there are in fact 10x more views for the Views article than there are for business career which speaks volumes. So I'm in disagreement with others that believe the most notable aspect of Musk is his business career, (whereas the Wealth article quite clearly is for example). So it'd be nice to give the reader "what they want", rather than having to scroll down to find the article they are likely looking for. Musk family, Legal affairs of Elon Musk, and Acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk, are otherwise referenced in the second paragraph, and I think are well suited there given the context of notability not being quite as significant. CNC (talk) 11:29, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Yes, although there's definitely room to tweak the wording. At this point his controversial politics are clearly his primary source of notability and are not being given enough focus in the lead; one mention of DOGE in a list is plainly insufficient. This is a reasonable start if we want to cram it into a single sentence. --Aquillion (talk) 20:36, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • No. In my opinion, the proposed sentence steps a little too far into synthesis. Alternatively, it could mention his declining approval ratings. It could also emphasize the controversial acts of DOGE. Dw31415 (talk) 01:12, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment The links should be adjusted to accord with MOS:LINKCLARITY. The way the links are currently formatted in the current lead is better: His political activities and views have made him a polarizing figure. ―Panamitsu (talk) 01:18, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for noticing, I misplaced the links per the diff I was referencing. I've corrected that now, as doesn't appear to change this discussion aside from your comment, and this timestamp serves as the timestamp for that edit. CNC (talk) 09:56, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
No as per @Dw31415. All Tomorrows No Yesterdays (Ughhh.... What did I do wrong this time?) 13:40, 19 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
No, although not on the grounds of SYNTH. I would argue that it (and any other opinions on him) would not be DUE. There are more polarizing figures than Musk (e.g. Erdogan, Putin, possibly Fauci) that don't have it in the opening paragraph. Wildfireupdateman :) (talk) 19:39, 20 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, I would suggest the word "controversial" instead of "polarizing" since it's a more common and understandable word. Doesn't seem like SYNTH to me, it's the reality. Illegally 15:18, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Yes.[[2]]speaks of the opening paragarph to establishing the context in which the topic is being considered. The DOGE of which Musk is "in charge", in its creation and subsequent actions has been the subject of significant controvesy including protests and ongoing Lawsuits. In terms of Musk's significant out-lier role in Trump's election and the everyday and apparently far-reaching impact (as opposed to mere recency), of DOGE, a resounding yes. Rigorousmortal (talk) 18:45, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Yes – per nom. Also a pretty neutral statement. Left- and right-wing figures alike can be polarizing. 🐔 Chicdat  Bawk to me! 17:22, 6 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
No. It's undue and poor article writing to tag someone as controversial before explaining any part of their background. — Goszei (talk) 20:47, 6 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Yes, although I would also support changing polarizing to controversial - Per summary style. The vast majority of the multiple articles of text discusses the controversies around this man, and that makes up the bulk of his notability. Perhaps once upon a time his notoriety was based primarily on his wealth and business practices, but that is clearly, plainly, and demonstrably no longer the case, by sheer weight of article coverage alone. Fieari (talk) 00:06, 13 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

main image

there is an image of musk today that should be the main image. it is high quality and depicts him as recently as possible. what do you all think? Wcamp9 (talk) 02:39, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It is very grainy so I wouldn't consider it high quality enough. It isn't particularly formal either considering that he's laughing. ―Panamitsu (talk) 03:49, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
the fact that he is laughing is fair, but it is pretty high quality despite being grainy. When the image is displayed on the infobox, it is not going to be seen as grainy. I see it as higher quality than the current main image Wcamp9 (talk) 13:32, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
It is incredibly grainy. That diminishes all the benefits of high quality. Aaron Liu (talk) 13:40, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
While it may diminish the high quality image, it is recent and a good depiction of Musk. In the infobox, the image will seem normal, despite incredible graininess. Try editing the article and putting the image in and you will know what I mean. Same situation for the infobox image of LeBron James Wcamp9 (talk) 16:47, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
We shouldn't use a photo of someone with his eyes closed if there are other options available --FMSky (talk) 16:49, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
fair enough Wcamp9 (talk) 18:18, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I have a computer monitor, which is probably much bigger than your screen. Aaron Liu (talk) 17:00, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
We currently have a relatively recent, good-quality image with a usable license. "I found a new one on the internets today!!!" is not a reason to change the current one, the Wikipedia is not Elon Musk's social media page. Zaathras (talk) 00:18, 24 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, even if his eyes weren't closed here, the current image is just better in every way; it's not like this image features him with a different appearance. Aaron Liu (talk) 11:18, 24 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Adding "and a neo-nazi" in the lede instead of just businessman

Musk subscribes to anti-Semitic, anti-democratic, alt-right, far-right, and anti-constitutional ideas. He's not a political activist or theorist, but his ideas are a core reason why his fame exists and why people don't like him. Summerfell1978 (talk) 15:07, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"anti-Semitic, anti-democratic, alt-right, far-right, and anti-constitutional ideas" Which in plain English translates to "He is a Republican." That is what the party stands for. Dimadick (talk) 15:17, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with you 100%. Summerfell1978 (talk) 16:24, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
This is a wp:blp to call him a neo-nazi we need a lot of very good wp:rs saying he is. Slatersteven (talk) 15:19, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Gladly.
Anti-Semitism
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67446800 "White House criticises Elon Musk over 'hideous' antisemitic lie"
https://www.pap.pl/en/news/elon-musk-take-part-anti-semitism-debate-poland-says-dep-foreign-minister "Elon Musk to take part in anti-Semitism debate in Poland says dep foreign minister"
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/17/white-house-slams-elon-musk-abhorrent-promotion-of-antisemitic-tweet "White House slams Elon Musk’s ‘abhorrent’ promotion of anti-Semitism"
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-blames-adl-lost-revenue-says-anti-semitism-kind-rcna103292 "Musk alleged that the ADL has been "trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-01/why-elon-musk-is-accused-of-antisemitism-and-what-it-means-for-x?embedded-checkout=true "Why Elon Musk Is Accused of Antisemitism and What It Means for X"
https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/4192647-elon-musks-dangerous-tweets-are-empowering-antisemites/ "Elon Musk’s dangerous tweets are empowering antisemites"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/09/elon-musk-anti-semitism-twitter-israel-hamas-war/ "Elon Musk under fire after recommending anti-Semitic Twitter account to follow Israel-Hamas war"
Neo-Nazism
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2025/01/22/musk-accused-of-making-nazi-salute-how-4chan-culture-entered-the-white-house_6737292_13.html "" On an American neo-Nazi Telegram group, images of Musk's gesture were accompanied by an enthusiastic "WE ARE FUCKING BACK,"
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/elon-musk-neo-nazi-regime-change/ "Elon Musk has been backing neo-Nazi parties around the world, interfering in elections and using his massive platform to attack anyone who doesn't share his views"
https://x.com/SenSanders/status/1882161566042538241?lang=en "Elon Musk has been backing neo-Nazi parties around the world."-Bernie Sanders
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/world/europe/neo-nazi-uk-riots-elon-musk.html "A Neo-Nazi Helped Incite U.K. Riots. Elon Musk Criticized His Sentencing."
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/trump-s-de-facto-co-president-elon-musk-raises-questions-across-europe-228730949838 "Elon Musk is being slammed for backing a 'neo-Nazi' political party in Germany"
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/2/7/elon-musk-is-a-global-problem "In seeming reference to the AfD's neo-Nazi links, Musk also said Germany needs to “move beyond” feeling guilty for the Nazi crimes"
This is as best as you're going to get. Are we waiting for him to come out and say "I am a neo-nazi."? The evidence is clear. Summerfell1978 (talk) 16:41, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
So far, you haven't cited RSs themselves calling him a neo-Nazi. Until you can quote RSs themselves saying it, we cannot put it in wikivoice. The closest we can come is to quote – with attribution – someone who has relevant expertise and identifies him that way, where the quote appears in an RS (e.g., an RS newspaper quoting a professor in an appropriate field; but not someone who simply objects to his politics and calls him that). See, for example, the quotes/discussion in Donald Trump and fascism. FactOrOpinion (talk) 19:11, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Going through the individual sources:
  1. Lemonde - neo-Nazis supporting Musk does not mean he's a neo-Nazi. If neo-Nazis supported Jesus Christ would that make Christ a neo-Nazi?
  2. thenation - Fair although it should really be calling him a neo-Nazi.
  3. Bernie Sanders - politicians can say, and do say, anything they want. Best thing would be to attribute it to Sanders instead of calling him a neo-Nazi in wikivoice.
  4. Nytimes - does the source say that he's a neo-Nazi?
  5. msnbc - Fair although if I was to say that in wiki-voice I'd say that he has backed neo-Nazi parties rather than call him a neo-Nazi because that's what the quote says.
  6. aljazeera - Does it call Musk a neo-Nazi? I reckon it's the same thing as saying that white Americans shouldn't feel bad because their ancestors were colonists, because they can't change history. Doesn't mean that people who don't feel guilt about it like colonialism.
―Panamitsu (talk) 19:19, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
"Fair although if I was to say that in wiki-voice I'd say that he has backed neo-Nazi parties rather than call him a neo-Nazi because that's what the quote says."
Should we edit it? Summerfell1978 (talk) 19:34, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
We say he has backed far right parties. Slatersteven (talk) 11:11, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
And his support for far-right parties in Europe is easy to justify. — Charles Stewart (talk) 14:03, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Given the lead here is a summary of a summary of a summary, I expect you'd have an easier time making small additions to the bodies of the views and politics articles, zooming out to see what portion of that would be included in a summary given relative prominence, and then adding that to the body here. Alpha3031 (t • c) 13:32, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I'm guessing that most of those who want to curry favour with Trump are too guarded to say whatever they want. — Charles Stewart (talk) 13:52, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The links you share are useful, but they aren't RSes. — Charles Stewart (talk) 13:49, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
For me, the bar is "Osama bin laden is a dissident and militant leader." If we cannot even say "...is a terrorist" there, then this sort of thing doesn't fly here. Zaathras (talk) 18:06, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The label "Neo-Nazi" is a little different since it refers to a particular ideology unlike the descriptor "terrorist", but I agree that there is a high bar and sources need to directly call someone a term (or they need to self-identify) for us to use it in Wiki-voice. – notwally (talk) 19:02, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Although the sources are there for much of the characteristics in the OP; I don't think the sources are good enough for using the term neo-Nazi. O3000, Ret. (talk) 18:22, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Summer, after your recent attempts at such blatant BLP violations I would have hoped you would understand that you need a consensus of RSs using the term to put such a clearly contentious term in a BLP. Panamitsu's analysis of the sources you provided shows that you still fail to understand the sort of sourcing that is needed for such a label. Certainly if bin Laden isn't called a terrorist I think the standard to call Musk a Neo-Nazi has to be rather high. To be clear, I thought the guy was a pile of excrement even before he tried to use lawfare against a grad student who dared to suggest Tesla's production numbers weren't what they claimed. Springee (talk) 19:49, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
You should share those recent attempts for everyone to see what you're talking about.
"Summer, after your recent attempts at such blatant BLP violations" Summerfell1978 (talk) 14:32, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with @Objective3000:, the sourcing isn't where we would need it to be to put that in there... We would need high quality reliable sources to be regularly and unambigously saying that which they aren't. Horse Eye's Back (talk) 19:52, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that his ideas are "anti-Semitic, anti-democratic, [extreme right], and anti-constitutional ideas", but I'm not convinced that he's a neo-Nazi. Having said that, he is clearly happy with the support of neo-Nazis. I think any RSes you find on the relationship between Musk and neo-Naziism will support this, and not the claim that he's actually a neo-Nazi.
— Charles Stewart (talk) 14:00, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Unless mainstream sources such as the New York Times or CBS News start referring to him as such I think it would be impossible to make that assertion. I think it would be difficult to even say he's been "accused" of being one, particularly in the lede, unless there are some heavyweight sources making the accusations. Wellington Bay (talk) 20:45, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

agree, though i think in the first sentence it should still refer to him moreso in his current role than "businessman", just not using a term like "neo-nazi", since he plays much more of a political role now. - avxktty (talk) 14:20, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think some users need to read wp:policy and pay special attention to wp:agf. We go by what RS say, RS have to say HE is far-right for us to say he is. Slatersteven (talk) 13:58, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

And that is great, this is about calling him a businessman and neo-nazi, in the first sentence none the less, which is a bit different. PackMecEng (talk) 14:06, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Not really as for us to call him it anywhere RS must call him it, (in their words). The lead is a summary of our article, and as a BLP must be based on what RS actually say, not what we integrate them to say. Slatersteven (talk) 14:12, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • These news sources all got talking points of what to say, they taking money from people who were getting money from NGOs he is shutting down, so they aren't "independent" reliable sources. Have you seen the video clips of all of them saying the same phrases, sometimes even word for word entire paragraphs? Dream Focus 16:45, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Are any of these sources post, January 2025? Slatersteven (talk) 16:49, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    They started going after him after he bought Twitter, they losing that tool of manipulation. Went from praise to hatred just like that. Do any sources use the term "Nazi" before he started support Trump though? Dream Focus 17:33, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    "Do any sources use the term "Nazi" before he started support Trump though?"
    Because he became openly far-right just recently. Logic doesn't stand. Are we supposed to call him a Nazi when he was cosplaying as a pro-LGBT pro-freedom pro-democracy liberal? Summerfell1978 (talk) 17:59, 23 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    I don't think that "the Lügenpresse disparaging Musk is all from people that are paid off" is a line of argument that is likely to be well received, and appears to be completely unnecessary regardless given that the proposed change appears to have snow failed. Alpha3031 (t • c) 06:24, 24 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Leader of DOGE

I know the RfC just finished but most comments were before the court ruling, which I believe is critical and is precisely what was being discussed in the RfC. To quote the infobox on the DOGE page: On March 18, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland determined that Elon Musk was "the leader of DOGE" and was exercising the authority of its lawful administrator on a de facto basis.[1][2][3] Yeshivish613 (talk) 19:38, 26 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Public image --> Second paragraph --> Incorporate into Lead

Every day more and more people realize who actually has all the power in Washington right now. The article's reference to this is buried deep within. I'm glad it is there, but I think it would be better to rewire that 2nd paragraph into the lead section, specifically in the last paragraph about his political activity. We need to at least allude to how he's basically the POTUS right now. For example:

He has engaged in political activities in several countries, including as a vocal and financial supporter of Trump. Musk has been described as an American oligarch due to his extensive influence over public discourse, social media, industry, politics, and government policy in the United States. Musk was the largest donor in the 2024 U.S. presidential election and is a supporter of global far-right figures, causes, and political parties. After Trump's re-election, Musk's influence and actions during the transition period and the second presidency of Donald Trump led some to call him "President Musk", the "actual president-elect", "shadow president" or "co-president". Ee100duna (talk) 03:40, 30 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  1. ^ Lee, Ella (March 18, 2025). "Judge finds Elon Musk likely acted unconstitutionally in shuttering USAID". The Hill. Retrieved March 18, 2025. It marks the first time a judge has ruled that Musk is likely exercising enough independent authority to require him to be confirmed by the Senate under the Appointments Clause. "The record of his activities to date establishes that his role has been and will continue to be as the leader of DOGE, with the same duties and degree of continuity as if he was formally in that position,'" wrote Chuang, an appointee of former President Obama. Chuang rejected the Trump administration's argument that Musk is not the DOGE administrator and is instead merely a senior adviser to the president who has no independent authority.
  2. ^ Shalal, Andrea; Bose, Nandita (2025-02-20). "Trump appears to contradict White House, says Elon Musk in charge of DOGE". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2025-02-20. Retrieved 2025-02-20. 'I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge,' Trump told an audience of investors and company executives in Miami.
  3. ^ Picchi, Aimee (February 18, 2025). "Musk is not an employee of DOGE and "has no actual or formal authority," White House says". CBS News. Retrieved 2025-03-01. Like other senior White House advisers, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.
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