4 Famous People Driven Insane By Ayn Rand

1Silicon Valley Loves To Cherry Pick Ayn Rand

In Rand’s work, a happy ending is when successful people swat aside whiners to get even more money. Not surprisingly, she’s big in Silicon Valley. Travis Kalanick, who invented a taxi company that dodges responsibility for sexual assaults, is a fan. So is Brian Armstrong, who asks Coinbase employees to not be political about the cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that uses more electricity than Ireland. And of course there’s Elon Musk, who’s hard at work saving humanity with ideas like “What if roads were useless death traps?” 

Steve Jurvetson

“I heard in Atlas Shrugged, a bunch of people ride into a tunnel and die. Haha, YOLO!”

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Uber was riddled with scandals under Kalanick’s reign, Musk is famous for profanity-riddled tirades and random “rage firings.” As attractive as the idea of a messianic businessman can be when you’re the one who gets to play Capitalist Christ, running a business inspired by Ayn Rand is like becoming a detective inspired by Sherlock Holmes. The stories are dramatic, but “be a genius” doesn’t tell you anything about the actual work.  

In Rand’s defense, the average reading of her is superficial. Her heroes are supermen, but part of that superiority comes from their sense of justice. A Randian hero demands hard work, but also rewards it; ignoring a toxic workplace or firing people because you’re grumpy would get you an angry ass-kicking from Mr. A. Whether you want a world where CEOs are the ultimate arbiters of justice is another matter, but Silicon Valley’s worship of Rand is like making Captain America your role model because he gets to beat up people. 

Heisenberg Media 

“I’m a CEO, I’m a hero, like in the book! Unlike the book’s villains, who are … also CEOs? Dang.”