Any blogger, analyst or journalist who has ever published anything even remotely critical of Tesla’s TSLA, -4.50% Elon Musk can probably relate to this response, one of the few printable missives that this MarketWatch editor has received from the maverick CEO’s ornery supporters:
“Don’t try to understand a mindset you will never have.”
They are a passionate bunch, no doubt about that. While Musk surely appreciates the love, others find the hero worship to be a bit much.
In fact, according to tens of thousands of voters on Twitter TWTR, +0.68% , Musk has “the worst dedicated fan base,” and it’s not even close.
Read: This timeline charts Elon Musk’s dramatic rise to internet fame (or descent into internet infamy)
Michelle Spies, a writer for Botnik Studios and a contributor to the Onion, last month posted a March Madness-style bracket matching up various enthusiasts — including supporters of Hamilton, Harry Potter and Kanye, to name a few — and asking followers to vote until a “winner” was crowned.
“Some of these fandoms become violent against the ignorant or opposing,” Spies wrote in a post on Medium. “Whereas others simply annoy the living f**k out of you with their mere presence.”
Here’s the initial bracket:
From there, the competition gained viral steam. More than 20,000 people voted during the first round alone, much to the surprise of the architect of the tournament.
“I imagined that a few of my friends would interact, if at all, and it would be a fun stupid bit. Amazingly, unlike any of my content before, it picked up steam,” Spies said. “Truly I was not expecting this level of engagement or sincerity.”
And that engagement took Musk supporters all the way to the top.
Related: Elon Musk appears to smoke marijuana during an interview
“Elon Musk is their masculine technologic messiah, sent to bring them into a new era,” she explained. “They will defend their billionaire Lord to the death.”
Along the way, Musk’s fanbase easily dispatched of devotees of The Americans, Smosh, Fortnite, Woody Allen, Big Bang Theory and, finally, Rick & Morty.
It should be noted that there’s got to be some overlap in that final:
Simulation theory confirmed. pic.twitter.com/2sAHlIXV4v
— Rick and Morty (@RickandMorty) October 19, 2017
Anyway, here’s the completed bracket:
So far the fans are sticking by their guy during these turbulent times -- made even more turbulent on Friday as Musk’s name again went viral after he appeared to smoke pot during a podcast interview. Along with news of two more executive departures at Tesla, and the headlines are putting heavy pressure on shares.
Tesla stock was down as much as 10% in early trade. It was recently down more than 5%, hovering around its lowest since April, and down 16% for the year. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.15% has gained 7% in the same time frame, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.01% has advanced about 5%.
