I get that Musk is a controversial figure and that this event was a debacle, but I dont know how you can ignore SpaceX and Tesla, both arguably the most successful companies in their fields right now by some metrics.
SpaceX is fine, although it's running at leaner margins than competitors; as long as it can scale well and beef that up, it'll be about average for an aerospace company.
Tesla is a terrible mess, and only by Silicon Valley standards can it be considered successful at all. It is not even close to being "the most" successful car company.
This is why Musk is a controversial figure; he's a Valley-style startup hype man operating in the wider world. Whether that approach is sustainable is what the fighting is about.
The operative word here is was. Everybody else was making toys. They aren't now.
Tesla might be the most impactful EV company, in that you can make an argument that what Tesla did (and, to be frank, what they talked about before they did it) changed was to is, but Nissan, GM, and Hyundai are all making EVs that are decidedly not "toys" and Tesla's advantages in the EV space (not necessarily the creature-comforts space, but a big reason why I won't buy a Tesla and am buying a Hyundai Kona EV is because I don't want a giant tablet screen as my instrument panel) are shrinking.
You realise that the Nissan Leaf predates the Model S? Before the Leaf, yes, everyone was making toys. The two most compelling were the electric Smart car and the Tesla roadster, but both were terribly impractical.
