Honestly, its a means to an end. He has beceome the defacto person for the EV movement, Mars colonization, and to a degree AI (for good or for bad).
many have tried before him, but none had the savvyness or presence that he has.
I worked for Kimabl and approached him several times while at work and I can tell you right now, I would never try that with Elon. My friend asked if I saw Elon at either Tesla or SpaceX when I went to my interviews, I told him if he was I'd walk other way. Definitely say thank you in passing, but that's about it.
He's not someone I'd bother, I like what he does and how it effects all the movements I care about, that's how I justify it. The polemics from his twitter antics can be entertaining at times, and that's engaging a broader audience so I encourage it as well.
His stance on COVID was misinformed to say the least, but he isn't an epidemiologist so I'm not going to listen to him on that. When i want to hear about Starship SN4 I'm all ears.