Elon Musk is a successful entrepreneur.
Even his detractors recognize that he is the most influential CEO of the current decade.
Musk, critics and fans say, is the visionary of our times.
He knows how to combine idealism and reality.
The billionaire has awakened the dreams of conquering space with his aerospace company SpaceX. Although some experts remain skeptical of his promise that humans will inhabit Mars in our lifetime, they recognize that the dream of seeing humans one day live on the Red Planet is within reach.
Musk has also managed to convince that clean vehicles are possible for the masses. For two years, almost every car manufacturer has reviewed their strategy to direct it towards the production of electric vehicles.
But the serial entrepreneur wants to take it to the next level: he believes that it is necessary to go further. He now defines Tesla (TSLA) as a technology group working on robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
He believes that the humanoid robots produced by the electric vehicle manufacturer will herald a "future of abundance" for the world because they will replace labor where it is needed.
The billionaire who sees himself as a global CEO also believes that the world's problems are his. He thus mingles with geopolitics. And even when he fails to do so, the citizens ask him for his help.
Musk, the Diplomat
Iranians protesting against their regime recently asked him to help them by giving them access to Starlink, the secure Internet access service developed by SpaceX. Which Musk did.
But the tech tycoon has also just learned that his role as global CEO comes with many risks and disappointments.
Musk, who was one of the first big international supporters in business circles of Ukraine that was invaded on Feb. 24 by Russia, wanted to play diplomat in this conflict on Oct. 3 by proposing a peace plan.
The plan rests on four points of which two - to give Crimea, annexed in 2014 by Russia, to Moscow, and that Ukraine remains neutral by not joining NATO and the European Union - were perceived by the Ukrainians as a capitulation.
As he often does with his own affairs, Musk put his peace plan to a vote by users on the social network Twitter. They had until Oct. 4 to vote.
Nearly 2.8 million people voted, and the "No" vote largely won with 59.1% of the votes cast, while "Yes" generated 40.9% of the vote. Twitter users therefore overwhelmingly rejected Musk's plan.
Beyond this plan, Musk had also submitted another proposal to the vote of Twitter users. The question was whether the inhabitants of Crimea and Donbas - two Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia - should be consulted on their future as a member of Ukraine or Russian territories.
Huge Defeat
More than 2.4 million people voted and 59.3% indicated that it was up to the inhabitants of these regions to decide their future and not up to the negotiations between the leaders of the two countries for a possible peace.
Only 40.7% of voters felt that the inhabitants of these regions had no say in their future.
It's also a huge setback for Musk, whose peace plan proposes that Kyiv recognize Crimea as Russian territory.
"Shocking number of people voting No to this... Tells you how others' right to self-determination really matters to some when it conflicts with your plans," Human Rights Activist Keean Bexte commented.
What will Musk do now?
In the past, the billionaire has always respected the results of his polls.
Last year, he had organized a survey whose question was whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla shares.
"Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?" Musk posted on Twitter on November 6, 2021.
He continued: "I will abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes."
Within days of the poll results, Musk had sold millions of Tesla shares equivalent to 10% of his stake.
His plan for peace in the Russian war in Ukraine, which has already caused thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions more, has however caused a rift between the billionaire and the Ukrainians.
The results of the poll undoubtedly reflect the disappointment of the Ukrainians who had seen in him an unconditional ally.
