It's time to give Elon Musk some respect: Varney

Elon Musk doesn't give a hoot about what people think of him, or say about him. He took a lot of heat for smoking marijuana on camera. He was ridiculed for his wild, middle-of-the-night tweets. Lot of name calling because of his behavior.

I think it’s time for a re-evaluation. I think it’s time to look at the man's achievements, rather than his public image. Like him or not, Elon Musk is surely the prime example of a brilliant entrepreneur.

He makes state-of-the-art electric cars. OK, he leaned heavily on green tax credits, but the Tesla is a stand-out vehicle. He had the vision. A lot of people talk about their "vision,” but he went out and did it.

You've heard of SpaceX. That’s an Elon Musk company. He had a vision for re-usable rockets, and he went out and did that, too. SpaceX is launching a network of satellites that will enhance the internet. He has brought private enterprise to the space business. That’s an achievement.

You've heard of the Boring Company. A play on words, of course. It bores tunnels. This is Musk's contribution to future mass transit. The point is, he did it. He just offered a tour of the tunnel he's already built in southern California. It’s not just talk.

In the age of social media, we tend to fixate on the negatives. It’s easy to pour scorn on someone who behaves like Elon Musk. But step back, and look at what he has actually done: He's in the car business, the space business, the mass transit business. He's got a product in all three industries. That is tangible success.

Give the man credit.