Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney has spent his career investigating powerful institutions and controversial figures, from Enron and Elizabeth Holmes to Scientology and abuses at Bagram and Abu Ghraib. But he says none compares with the power wielded by his latest subject: Elon Musk.
Gibney's nearly four-hour documentary, "Musk," premieres at the Venice Film Festival this week ahead of an October theatrical release from Bleecker Street. The filmmaker said the project attempts to dismantle the mythology surrounding the billionaire and examine the origins of his extraordinary influence.
The project began in early 2023, when producers approached Gibney about making a film on Musk. He was initially reluctant until a friend convinced him the billionaire offered an ideal lens for examining "21st-century power."
Once he began investigating, Gibney said he came to believe Musk's greatest talent was not invention but his ability to sell investors a vision of the future.
"His genius, if there is a genius, is that he is not an inventor, he's an investor," Gibney said. "His genius is stock pumping."
Gibney also examined Musk's political shift toward President Donald Trump, which surprised some former admirers who had viewed the Tesla chief as a champion of clean energy.
The filmmaker said he concluded that Musk's political evolution was driven partly by his companies' reliance on the federal government and partly by the regulatory and legal scrutiny they faced.
"He goes where the federal government money is," Gibney said.
He also pointed to federal investigations involving Musk's businesses, including a criminal investigation into Tesla, as a possible factor in Musk's political calculations. Gibney argued those pressures were more significant than the cultural explanations often offered for Musk's shift to the right.
Musk has previously joked that he could face prison under a Kamala Harris administration. Gibney said he initially underestimated how important the prospect of continued federal scrutiny was to Musk.
Comparing Musk with previous subjects, Gibney said he saw similarities with disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and figures involved in the collapse of Enron, particularly in what he characterized as their willingness to bend facts to pursue larger ambitions.
However, Gibney acknowledged a significant difference: Tesla and SpaceX are functioning companies staffed by large numbers of accomplished engineers and executives.
He described Musk as an example of "noble cause corruption," in which someone becomes so convinced of the importance of their mission that they begin to justify questionable behavior as necessary to achieve it.
"Nothing compares to this in terms of the scope of his power," Gibney said.
Musk has dismissed the documentary as a "hit piece," but Gibney rejected suggestions that he began the project determined to attack him.
The filmmaker said he initially approached the project as an admirer of Musk and wanted to interview him, but Musk declined to participate.
"You start digging into the facts and you follow them where they lead," Gibney said. "And where they led for me was to a place that upended the myth, I would say, of Elon Musk as a kind of modern Leonardo da Vinci."
Gibney said one of the biggest challenges was persuading people who knew or worked with Musk to speak publicly.
He said employees, supporters and critics were reluctant to appear on camera because they feared the billionaire's reaction. Some admirers told Gibney they would not speak without Musk's permission.
"They were just terrified of Elon," Gibney said. "I thought, wow, for such a big and powerful person, that seems awfully weak."
Despite the documentary's serious subject matter and lengthy running time, Gibney said he wanted the film to remain entertaining.
"It's a dark and dangerous topic," he said, "but the film itself is a fun ride."
