Musk involvement was with the money. I really doubt he researched enough to know who Ilya was at the time.
Also, you underestimate Elon Musk if you think he's not capable of researching specialists in the fields he is interested in, I believe many people are hellbent on attributing all his successes to dumb luck rather than any sort of competence.
I could acknowledge that a hypothetical smart, woke, furry, trans, porn-addicted programmer that regularly makes great FOSS contributions is intelligent and capable while still disliking their beliefs/behavior.
Separate the "art" from the "artist."