Musk has, to my knowledge, never claimed that his own genius is what SpaceX or Tesla is based on. That's very different from Theranos, which was based on claims

Musk has, to my knowledge, never claimed that his own genius is what SpaceX or Tesla is based on. That's very different from Theranos, which was based on claims about technology developed by Holmes personally, or this company which is likewise based on a founder's supposed genius inventions. Musk is at worst comparable to people like Steve Jobs or Donald Trump: people with a near pathological need to prove that they deserve their wealth by taking stupid risks. Risks that sometimes pay off. For every Trump or Musk, there are probably ten rich sons who took stupid risks and failed so bad they didn't get to take such risks anymore.