Time magazine has named CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk as Person of the Year.
“Person of the Year is a marker of influence, and few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth too,” Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal wrote. “In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world’s richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society.”
It was indeed a banner year for Musk, who garnered attention for becoming the richest person in the world in part due to the rise in Tesla’s (TSLA) stock price. With SpaceX, Musk launched the first-ever mission to Earth’s orbit with a crew of only tourists and no professional astronauts.
This tradition from Time began in 1927 as “Man of the Year” and has since changed to not only recognize an individual, but also to consider the impact of a group, movement or idea that had the most influence in the past year. In 2020, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were picked together as Person of the Year. The annual choice is not necessarily considered an honor, since the selection could have wielded negative influence. For example, Adolf Hitler was named Man of the Year in 1938.
I – Word Understanding
Banner year – a year in which something is especially successful
Wielded – used as a tool / means
II – Have Your Say
1, Elon Musk is a very controversial person. He is loved and hated at the same time. What do you know about him? Could you think of another person who has a major influence in our lives?
2, Share your opinion on the relevance and importance of the products/services of Elon Musk’s companies:
a, Tesla – electric car / self driving car
b, SpaceX – space transportation and tourism
c, SpaceX – Mars colonization
d, Starlink – internet satellites
e, SolarCity – solar-based residential and commercial buildings
f, The Boring Company – boring and building tunnels to reduce traffic
842 Time Person of the Year: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, named most influential of 2021
