Elon Musk last month appeared on the "Verdict with Ted Cruz" podcast, where the Texas senator threw him a rare question: Who's the smartest guy you've ever met?
Musk didn't hesitate. He named two heavyweights — Larry Ellison and Larry Page — both billionaires, both tech legends, and at one point, both close friends of Musk.
"Larry Ellison's very smart," Musk said. "I will say Larry Ellison is one of the smartest people."
He added, "You know, Larry Page… there are a lot of people that are very smart."
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He didn't stop there. Musk also tipped his hat to Jeff Bezos, acknowledging that Bezos had accomplished "a lot of difficult and significant things" — even if their rivalry over space has stretched on for more than two decades.
But when it came to Ellison and Page, Musk had more personal history.
Ellison wasn't just impressed by Musk from afar. In 2018, when Tesla was battling lawsuits and controversy over Musk's "funding secured" tweet about taking the company private, Ellison stepped in. He bought a $1 billion stake in Tesla, joined the company's board, and publicly backed Musk, calling Tesla an "amazing company" and describing Musk as a "very close friend."
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At a time when investors were running for cover, Ellison was standing next to him.
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Page's relationship with Musk ran even deeper — and ultimately more complicated.
Musk and Page once shared an easy friendship, spending long nights talking about humanity's future, space colonization, and artificial intelligence. Musk said he would even stay at Page's house while visiting Silicon Valley.
But the friendship cracked. Musk believed AI development needed strict oversight; Page, according to Musk, was "cavalier" about the risks. The philosophical divide led Musk to help launch OpenAI as a nonprofit competitor to Google's DeepMind, and the two friends drifted apart.
Still, before things soured, Page made it clear just how much faith he had in Musk.
In a 2014 TED interview with Charlie Rose, Page said: "If I were to get hit by a bus today, I should leave all of it to Elon Musk."
Page argued that Musk's mission to "back up humanity" by building a future on Mars was a better bet than funneling billions into traditional charities.
Musk's answer wasn't about old alliances or loyalty. It showed that even after friendships cracked, companies competed, and philosophies clashed, he could still recognize brilliance when he saw it — and wasn't afraid to applaud it, even from a distance.
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