Musk is leading the build of the biggest objects we have ever sent to space. It does give him some sort of aura that is hard to dismantle, let's be honest.
He can do and say a lot of shit because he will still be viewed as real-life Iron Man, because in some ways he kind of is.
Elon Musk would put Apple's money sloshing about over the years to better uses than failing to build one battery electric vehicle costing $1 billion a year over many years.
He doesn't have a RDF but has Kardashev Scale Intent (KSI).
The lobbyists in the political fray are out to steal his value for money lunch despite his demonstrated effectiveness, over and over again.
Jobs couldn't even engage the politicians to give away or at discount the Apple ][ to education.
Musk is probably closest, but he’s become so involved in partisan politics it makes his field far less effective at distorting reality.