Beware self-made ‘genius’ entrepreneurs promising the earth. Just look at Elon Musk | Kenan Malik

Beware self-made ‘genius’ entrepreneurs promising the earth. Just look at Elon Musk | Kenan Malik Silicon Valley ‘saviours’ are the heroes of the hour. Too often they have feet of clay

Trussonomics trashed within eight weeks. Donald Trump’s anointed candidates cut down in the US midterms. Sam Bankman-Fried, the poster boy of the crypto world, collapsing into bankruptcy. Elon Musk throwing Twitter into turmoil. The bursting of myths and the shredding of reputations seem to be the themes of the day.

Each of these cases is, of course, distinct and the root causes of each disaster different. There is a danger, too, in discussing these developments, of seeming to revel in failure. Too much of the debate about Musk and Twitter, especially, has mixed despair with schadenfreude. Yet, viewed collectively, these cases also tell us something deeper about our age and in particular about the ways in which we think about innovation and change.

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