“Though he is already preparing to send astronauts to the moon, Musk has been consistently underestimated – and now the danger he presents is being underestimated as well.” — Richard Cooke

How did the world’s richest man become the face of America’s reactionary revolution?

At the helm of X, bankrolling far-right lawsuits, and parroting white nationalist conspiracy theories to millions, Elon Musk is no longer a tech eccentric with odd politics — he’s the public face of the MAGA counter-revolution. Alongside Trump and the digital culture warriors of the new right, Musk is acting as both financier and foot soldier, reshaping the online public sphere in the image of a paranoid, hyper-capitalist backlash. He’s not just posting through it — he’s helping lead it.

In this urgent and razor-sharp essay, award-winning journalist Richard Cooke dissects the political descent of Elon Musk: from self-described moderate to reactionary provocateur, from self-mythologised innovator to conspiracy peddler and chaos agent. With forensic clarity, Cooke exposes the roots of Musk’s transformation — the mythology of genius, the libertarian cult of disruption, and the tech elite’s growing comfort with authoritarianism.

Dark Star Rising investigates how the richest man alive came to dominate what was once the digital town square — and what it means when that square is turned into a plaything of the paranoid elite. As Cooke reveals, Musk’s trajectory is not an anomaly but a warning: when billionaires cosplay as rebels and monopolise the means of communication, democracy itself hangs in the balance.

Dark Star Rising is searing account of the political devolution of Elon Musk — and what it reveals about the tech elite’s descent into far-right reaction.

About the Author

RICHARD COOKE is a multi-award-winning author, reporter and screenwriter. His reporting has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, the Washington Post, WIRED and many other publications.

He is a former Columnist of the Year, winner of the June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism and the Walkley Award for Feature Writing (Australia’s premier award for journalism). His fourth book is a cultural history of Wikipedia.