Elon Musk, the American tech billionaire, has pushed back against the portrayal in an upcoming documentary that labels him "the most miserable person," offering a different breakdown of his emotional state. In a post on X, Musk stated, "I'm happy about half the time, roughly neutral 40% of the time, and sad about 10% of the time."

The rebuttal came after his mother, Maye Musk, shared a Hollywood Reporter article from Wednesday that detailed director Alex Gibney's forthcoming project. The film quotes an anonymous source close to Musk as saying, "He's the most miserable person I've ever met." Maye Musk dismissed this characterization as "very odd," adding, "I've never seen him miserable, but that's just my personal take. As his mother."

The nearly four-hour documentary's central thesis suggests that Musk is "accumulating power" in a hazardous manner, primarily through his control of vast amounts of data. Gibney describes Musk as "a con man whose power comes from the stock market," and concludes the film by asserting that "misery will continue to accumulate" as Musk "gains more power" and becomes "less restrained in his worst impulses."

According to Forbes, Musk is the world's wealthiest person, with a net worth of $926.2 billion. Last June, his fortune briefly surpassed the $1 trillion mark following a highly publicized initial public offering by SpaceX. The documentary, which does not include an interview with Musk, is scheduled to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 8, hit theaters in October, and debut on HBO in the first half of 2027. Gibney is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker known for exposing powerful institutions, including Enron, Scientology, and the U.S. military.