That's why the pedophile tweet in 2018 so thoroughly shattered the illusion for me. It wasn't just incredibly petty, it was also easily avoidable. Like not only did he reveal who he was, it was easy to see how he could have been that person all along and the world could have never known about it if he just knew when to swallow his pride. And "the cave is too tight and twisty for your submarine to fit, even if you could develop and confirm its safety in time to save the kids, when we can just get them out without that tech" was such a dumb moment to decide to be petty.

I don't have much of a mind for PR stuff but it was even obvious to me that he could have still walked away looking great if he had financed some catering for the rescue team and families. Just show he was comfortable with sharing the spotlight and having an idea that was made in good faith shot down.

But nooooo, he had to be the saviour and since he couldn't do that, he needed to turn the one that hurt his feelings into a villain. With a comment that caught anyone who goes to Thailand for non-child sex tourist reasons in the blast radius (and maybe even told on himself a bit?).

And then he's just been spiraling since, at least as far as public image goes.

DIVORCED.

Despite having more money than god, he had "lovable dork" energy. I can't imagine squandering that. I would have just kept my mouth shut and only opened it when I wanted to talk about whatever new cool thing I decided to have built.

Xcrement

I like this.

Also, borrowing from blogger John Gruber: Phony Stark.

It is very clearly not going away.