Yeah, I mean, this is no big surprise.
As you can see in this chart, according to a new survey conducted by Pew Research, most Americans now have less-than-favorable views of both X owner Elon Musk and Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg.
As per Pew:
“Just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they have an unfavorable view of Musk, including 36% who have a very unfavorable opinion of him. About four-in-ten (42%) express a favorable view, including 11% who are very favorable, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2025.”
And Zuck fares even worse overall:
“Two-thirds of Americans have an unfavorable view of Zuckerberg. This includes 26% who are very unfavorable toward him. Another quarter view him favorably, including just 2% who see him very favorably.”
So Zuck has more haters in general, but more people who dislike Elon really don’t like him, which comes as a result of his increasing political involvement and his publicly stated opinions on… well, everything.
Both Musk and Zuckerberg have been the subject of much scrutiny, often self-inflicted, with Musk disowning his daughter, taking legal action against opponents, turning Twitter into his own personal mouthpiece, and supporting controversial politicians.
Zuckerberg meanwhile has seemingly profited off of people’s personal data, while also knowingly pushing apps that can be harmful to teens, and buying up land in Hawaii, much to the chagrin of locals.
Both men are worth billions, and both have huge influence, and as such, a level of hate is inevitably going to follow. But the last six months or so have really helped to solidify the two as villains, in their own unique ways.
Is that justified? Well, some of it is, and again, when you have so much influence and power, you’ll likely have to take some actions that are going to upset some people. But both Musk and Zuckerberg seem to be solely driven by their ambitions to gain more power, and more market share, seemingly regardless of the potential cost to others.
As such, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of concern about the broader impacts of their actions on society, as displayed by their resistance to regulations, which they see as just impeding their progress.
And in some respects, they’re probably right on that front too, but those regulations and rules are generally put in place to protect the wider community, and we’ve all seen the harms that can come if we allow billionaire businessman to have their way, unfettered.
As such, it’s no surprise to see their public approval ratings in decline, though I doubt that either of them will care too much, so long as they get to keep pushing their dream visions forward, and keep bringing in more money for their respective businesses.
Maybe, in the end, both will be hailed as generational leaders, and genius minds in their own right. Or they’ll be scorned for their harmful impacts.
It’s important that checks and balances do remain in place in order to avoid the latter, while also acknowledging that the former is likely also true, whether you like it or not.
You can check out Pew Research’s full research overview here.
