Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ Calling him a “clown, genius, edge lord, visionary, industrialist, showman,” Time magazine has named Tesla CEO Elon Musk as its Person of the Year for 2021. Musk, 50, who is also the founder and CEO space exploration company SpaceX, recently passed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest person as the rising price of Tesla pushed his net worth to around $300 billion. He owns about 17% of Tesla’s stock, which sold for nearly $ 1,000 per share on Monday. Time cited the breadth of Musk’s endeavors, from his founding of SpaceX in 2002, to his hand in the creation of the alternative energy company SolarCity in addition to Tesla, the most valuable car company in the world. The magazine emphasized that its annual acknowledgement is not an award, but rather, “recognition of the person who had the most influence on the events of the year, for good or for ill.” The magazine also noted the sway Musk holds over an army of loyal followers (and investors) on social media, where he skewers the powerful and also regulators attempting to keep in check an executive that is far from traditional. Time highlighted Musk’s recent admission to his 66 million Twitter followers that half his tweets were “made on a porcelain throne.” In its profile of the provocative CEO, Time went on to chronicle one of those toilet tweet storms in detail before concluding: “This is the man who aspires to save our planet and get us a new one to inhabit.”
■ New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams wants to make sure whistle blow er officer Frank Serpico gets the honor he was denied 50 years ago. Serpico, 85, will get a Police Department Medal of Honor certificate, Adams promised Saturday night on Twitter. Adams’ announcement came in response to Serpico’s tweet of a Daily News story heralding the 50th anniversary of his testimony to the Knapp Commission, which probed crooked NYPD cops. Serpico, a Brooklyn native, has been waiting for formal recognition ever since he was shot in the face in February 1971, nine months before his Knapp Commission testimony. Serpico tweeted out the News story after it was published online Saturday. In the tweet, Serpico told his 5,000 Twitter followers that the article “neglected to mention I’ve been waiting 50+ yrs for the NYPD to issue me my authenticated Medal of Honor certificate and properly inscribed medal.” Serpico got the medal — it was handed to him over a countertop, without any pomp or ceremony. Adams promised that the NYPD will fix the oversight. “SerpicoDet’s bravery inspired my law enforcement career. Frank — we’re going to make sure you get your medal,” Adams wrote.