{"id":495,"date":"2023-10-20T14:29:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/elon-musk-gatsby-party.html"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:29:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:29:40","slug":"elon-musk-gatsby-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sesglobal.com.au\/blog\/elon-musk-gatsby-party.html","title":{"rendered":"Elon musk gatsby party"},"content":{"rendered":"

Take a look inside Elon Musk s former house, a haunted mansion where he once held a Gatsby-themed party<\/h1>\n\n\n\n\n

In an interview with the New York Times in 2020, Musk described the same home as a \u201cstrange Gatsby-like house\u201d, which he called a \u201chaunted mansion.\u201d When Musk bought the estate in 2017 for $23.4m, he did so through one of his companies, suitably named Gatsby LLC.<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n

Elon musk gatsby party<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

In The Great Gatsby , narrator Nick Carraway writes of the titular character, his millionaire neighbour Jay Gatsby, that he had an \u201cextraordinary gift for hope\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Carraway was describing Gatsby’s ability to project an image of success, affluence and aspiration onto others. The same could be said of Elon Musk. Though, if you\u2019ve read the novel, you\u2019ll know this description is not the glowing endorsement it may seem at first glance to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

There is a thread that connects both figures. Both are extraordinarily wealthy, both have been presented as self-made men and both view themselves as having a higher purpose. For many, they are the American Dream personified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Both are obsessive, excessive dreamers. And both, ultimately, are empty men who are consumed by consumption itself and a never-ending need for gratification and attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The similarities run deeper still. If you review Musk\u2019s activities in business, public statements and, of course, the naming of his dog, you\u2019ll find what feels like more than a passing interest in F Scott Fitzgerald\u2019s protagonist. In this apparent attraction towards Gatsby, Musk holds a mirror up to himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Recent decisions by Musk to suspend journalists from Twitter have been erratic and seemingly driven by personal grievances. Musk has now put a spotlight on the parts of his personality that are all too similar to Gatsby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

First, let\u2019s explore the Musk-Gatsby attraction. Where else to start other than Twitter. In 2016, Musk tweeted to say he was listening to the Great Gatsby soundtrack while writing a new master plan outlining the strategy for his Tesla company, which he said \u201cseemed appropriate,\u201d though he later said this was an attempt at irony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\"On<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

On the surface, Fitzgerald\u2019s novel is a tragic love story centred around Jay Gatsby\u2019s long and unsuccessful pursuit of Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby hosts lavish parties and makes grand demonstrations of his fabulous wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In 2019, Musk tweeted to reveal one his dogs was named Gatsby and in 2020, he tweeted to say he wished to make the 2020s the \u201croaring 20s again\u201d with \u201cthe Greatest Gatsby\u201d included, presumably with himself occupying the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In an interview in 2022, Musk described how, in 2017, he held a Great Gatsby -themed birthday party in one of his palatial homes in San Francisco. Musk described an evening where no expense was spared, with \u201chigh-production set design\u201d, dancers and performers. No prize for guessing who Musk likely styled himself as for the occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In an interview with the New York Times in 2020, Musk described the same home as a \u201cstrange Gatsby-like house\u201d, which he called a \u201chaunted mansion.\u201d When Musk bought the estate in 2017 for $23.4m, he did so through one of his companies, suitably named Gatsby LLC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Musk is an avid reader and unabashed enjoyer of movies, TV and video games, so it\u2019s not surprising he frequently references literary characters in his public and professional life. And Gatsby-themed parties have been widely popular for 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

But again and again, Musk’s ties to Gatsby pop up more than other figures. You have to wonder if this preoccupation is rooted in a sense that Gatsby\u2019s life serves as a cautionary tale of opulence, obfuscation and arrogance or whether it serves as a blueprint for Musk’s own American Dream?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

On the surface, Fitzgerald\u2019s novel is a tragic love story centred around Jay Gatsby\u2019s long and unsuccessful pursuit of Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby hosts lavish parties and makes grand demonstrations of his fabulous wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

All of his actions are underpinned by a desire to win back Daisy, a wealthy socialite and member of New York\u2019s aristocracy. For him, she is the ultimate status symbol and represents the end goal for his transformation as a self-made man from rags to riches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\"Jay<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Jay Gatsby\u2019s story is one of soaring ups and deadly downs. We\u2019ve seen Musk\u2019s rise but we\u2019ve yet to see the fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Beneath the surface, Fitzgerald\u2019s novel is more commonly understood as a critique on the limits of the American Dream and a commentary on the author\u2019s disillusionment with the moral decay of the decade. That dream is the belief that any person, regardless of colour or creed, can succeed in America and enter into the gilded class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Gatsby\u2019s rise from impoverished beginnings is a symbol of a person\u2019s ability to transcend class. For all his riches though, Gatsby fails. Fitzgerald associates wealth with corruption, decadence and, finally, death. Gatsby’s dream meets a tragic end, though the aristocracy endures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s quite possible Musk sees himself in Gatsby. Scan through his tweets and you\u2019ll notice a recurring theme of his online posts are rebuttals to claims he inherited millions from his father who owned part of an emerald mine in Zambia in the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Musk\u2019s story is one of innovation, investment and furthering advancements in engineering, automotive and financial technology. That\u2019s one of the chief reasons why his takeover of Twitter was championed by many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

But his story is also one that illustrates the pitfalls of boundless ego, coupled with excess wealth and access to unchecked capital. Musk has always been eccentric and, more often than not, was lauded for it. But what must Musk\u2019s Twitter investors think, or the board of Tesla, now that his behaviour threatens their capital?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Since the takeover, Musk has run Twitter like an impetuous child and has become the main character in his own novel of misadventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In his short time in charge he has promised prominent far-right accounts Twitter will become a more hospitable place for their ilk, suggested that his former head of trust and safety was a paedophile and recently tweeted that his pronouns are \u201cProsecute\/Fauci.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Additionally, recent arbitrary changes in platform policy were rolled out overnight as a pretext to justify the suspension of accounts belonging to journalists who reported critically about him. So much for his claims to be a free speech absolutist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\"Rather<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Rather than Musk the entrepreneur, we are witnessing Musk the megalomaniac. Increasingly indifferent to his other business ventures, tired of making inordinate profits with little to spend it on and absorbed by his own self-importance, he sought out a new adventure in taking over Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Rather than Musk the entrepreneur, we are witnessing Musk the megalomaniac. Increasingly indifferent to his other business ventures, tired of making inordinate profits with little to spend it on and absorbed by his own self-importance, he sought out a new adventure in taking over Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Why did he do it? Because he could, because his ego drove him to do it. For the man who has everything, it is his own ultimate status symbol, much like Gatsby\u2019s desire for Daisy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

But the perils of possessing such a grand ego make you fragile to any perceived slight to your greatness. Musk\u2019s reactionary tendencies have emerged and he now governs his new domain in the style of an authoritarian who silences his critics by simply disappearing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In time, Musk may become bored with Twitter and seek out a new thrill \u2014 his poll in late December asking people to vote on whether he should remain as CEO offered a sign that he may be ready to move on already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

He may even be \u2018advised\u2019 to step aside. But, no matter, his pursuit for prestige will persist in the belief that he will eventually, some day, be satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Like Nick Carraway says at the close of the novel, \u201ctomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther, then one fine morning\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Jay Gatsby\u2019s story is one of soaring ups and deadly downs. We\u2019ve seen Musk\u2019s rise but we\u2019ve yet to see the fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Take a look inside Elon Musk’s former house, a ‘haunted mansion’ where he once held a Gatsby-themed party<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n

Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.<\/p>\n\n\nTwitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting.\n\n\n

Twitter LinkedIn icon The word “in”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

LinkedIn Fliboard icon A stylized letter F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Flipboard Facebook Icon The letter F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Email Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\"Elon<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n