He is charismatic and unpredictable.
His personality divides.
Some people describe him as the most revolutionary CEO of recent years. Others see in him a CEO who is the mirror of an era dominated by trends that follow one another at the speed of a short video on TikTok.
We stick all the labels on him: meme CEO, megalomaniac. But Elon Musk has managed to get everyone to agree on one important thing: he fills a great leadership vacuum that the world is currently experiencing because of the distrust of political leaders.
Musk has seen his popularity explode in recent months. For those who love numbers, Musk managed in a few weeks to gain millions of followers on the social network Twitter (TWTR) – Get Twitter, Inc. Report, which he describes as the “de facto town square” of the internet. He has more than 91.5 million followers as of time of writing.
As a reminder, the serial entrepreneur is in the process of acquiring Twitter for $44 billion. He would thus add to his already full schedule — Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc Report, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink — another company with a global presence. In some countries, Twitter and other social networks are often a place for political opponents and minorities to express themselves.
‘Japan Will Eventually Cease to Exist’
Musk therefore seems to be embracing his new status. He now expresses himself on almost all subjects, economic, political, geopolitical, aware that his voice has an impact and can launch a debate or shine the spotlight on a given issue. After Ukraine invaded by Russia in February, Musk has just taken up another international subject.
The billionaire, whose fortune is estimated at $247 billion on May 7, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is worried about the decline of the Japanese population.
“At risk of stating the obvious, unless something changes to cause the birth rate to exceed the death rate, Japan will eventually cease to exist,” Musk posted on Twitter on May 7. “This would be a great loss for the world.”
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The billionaire’s cry of alarm followed a post on an article reporting Japan’s continued population decline.
“Japan’s population falls by record 644,000 to 125.5 mil. in 2021 @elonmusk,” account Whole Mars Catalog tweeted at Musk.
The fear of the Tech tycoon seems to be shared by many Twitter users, who recall, for example, that the Japanese population has been declining for many years.
“It’s true and it’s something to worry about,” one user commented. “Japan is so important to the world – we need Japan not only to survive, but to thrive. Hundreds of millions around the globe deeply admire, love and respect the Japanese people. @NikkeiAsia.”
“We, the working age, are struggling to escape this suffering. Thank you for worrying about Japan. It’s very encouraging,” another user posted.
“Unless something changes to cause CHILD ABDUCTIONS BY JAPANESE PARENTS, Japan will eventually cease to exist. This would be a great loss for the world,” another user said.
‘Second Child Wall’
In 2021, the population declined in Japan by 644,000 to 125.5 million people year on year, according to official figures. And 2021 marked the eleventh consecutive year of decline. If this is the largest annual fall, the Japanese decline is nothing new.
For decades, Japan has been plagued by a serious problem of declining birth rates. Japan’s birth breakdown is amply documented. The Archipelago experienced a fantastic demographic acceleration in the 20th century, rising between 1920 and 2008, the year of its population peak, from 55 to 128 million inhabitants. It was on the back of this wave that the Japanese “economic miracle” took place, a creation of wealth unprecedented in human history. The post-war figures especially make you dizzy. In 1946, the Japanese fertility rate reached 4.5 children per woman and 3.6 million children were born that year.
But since then there is a phenomenon called “second child wall”, demographers say. The renewal of generations is not guaranteed in the country because the fertility index peaks at 1.4 children per woman instead of 2.1. Many say they want two or three children ideally but they often only do one because it costs too much.
Successive governments have taken measures to try to stem this demographic crisis when nearly 30% of the population is already over 65 years old.
