Commentators are already talking of the end days of the tech geniuses. Since the start of the year, between them the 10 richest tech entrepreneurs have lost almost half a trillion dollars. These losses can be partly explained by the general downward trend in the stock market: With rising taxes and money no longer flowing into the economy from the Central Bank, investors have become more wary. “In an era of abundant market liquidity, many investors gravitate towards projects that are trendy, such as the metaverse or cryptocurrencies,” author and Silicon Valley insider Thomas Rappold says of investor behavior in 2020 and 2021. He says that these popular investment sectors are now being recognized for what they are: a gimmick. In the case of Musk in particular, there are historical parallels to be drawn with legendary entrepreneurs from the past, such as Henry Ford. Just as Ford transformed the automobile from a luxury item into a product owned by the majority of households, Musk popularized the electric car. Ford didn’t invent the assembly line, but in the early 20th century he discovered its enormous potential for the mass-production of cars and turned the automobile industry into a lynchpin of modernization itself. Politically, the founder espoused a paternalistic worldview with anti-Semitic tendencies. In the 1930s, Ford’s reactionary views even led him to sympathize with the Nazis. His attempt to forge a political career of his own ended in failure.