Elon Musk speaks out after upcoming documentary dubs him 'the most miserable man'

The world’s richest man is also the ‘most miserable man’ according to an upcoming four hour documentary that examines the billionaire's public image and business career.

The nearly four-hour-long documentary titled Musk is directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and will premiere at the Venice Film Festival today (September 8), before it is set for a theatrical release next month.

In the film, it argues that Musk is ‘aggregating power’ in dangerous ways, with Gibney having described the tech mogul as ‘a confidence man whose power comes only from the stock market’.

The filmmaker went on to claim that as Musk continues to gain more power, he is increasingly ‘no longer interested in checking his worst impulses’.

Both Musk and his mother, Maye Musk, have hit out at these claims on social media, with his mother sharing a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The original post was from The Hollywood Reporter which included a quote from Gibney where he said: “Someone who worked closely with Elon told me, ‘He’s the most miserable man I’ve ever met.’ So he’s inflicting his misery on everyone else.”

Maye appeared to take exception to the tweet, adding: “This is weird @THR “Someone who worked closely with Elon told me, ‘He’s the most miserable man I’ve ever met.’ I haven’t seen him miserable, but that’s just me. His mom.”

Musk himself weighed in on the matter by replying to his mother’s tweet. In the post he said: “I’m happy about half the time, somewhere in the middle about 40% and sad about 10% of the time.”

Production for the project began in 2022, with Gibney publicly announcing it in March 2023, stating that he had been ‘off and on for some time’ and was already ‘months’ into making it.

The director shared that he had initially been an admirer of Musk and had at one point wanted to interview him. However, after being declined, Gibney decided to delve further into his investigation and became interested in the mogul’s wealth and power, which challenged his prior views. This changed the documentary into a much more critical view of the billionaire.

Where can you watch the new Elon Musk documentary?

The film is set to be released to cinemas in October of this year, with its HBO debut scheduled for 2027.

The doc will detail Musk’s rise to power with companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, and X, and explores things like his personality, his relationship with President Trump and how he has used his wealth to gain influence.