ELON MUSK HAS been named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2021.

“It’s really hard to escape Elon Musk’s dominance over so many things in American life right now,” said Time political correspondent, Molly Ball. 

“He’s got this rocket company that is completely dominating the space launch business. He’s got a car company that is completely dominating the electric vehicle market. He’s got 65 million Twitter followers and he likes to make weird jokes and set people off.”

Musk is also the CEO and largest shareholder of Tesla, one of the most valuable companies in the States, with a market value of more than $1 trillion. 

Asked by Time what living person he most admires, Musk replied: “I admire anyone who is making a positive contribution to humanity.”

US gymnast Simone Biles was Time’s sportsperson of the year, and Covid-19 vaccine scientists Kizzmekia Corbett, Barney Graham, Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman were the Time Heroes of the Year. 

Last year’s winners were US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

When asked by Time what he would like people to say about him after four years in the White House, Biden replied: “That America was better off and average Americans are better off the day we left than the day we arrived. That’s my objective.”

The award is given to the person or people who had the greatest impact on the news, positive or negative, over the year. It’s been going since 1927, with American aviator, activist and inventor Charles Lindbergh being the first winner. 

The magazine has also included some controversial choices over the decades, including Adolf Hitler in 1938 and Ayatullah Khomeini in 1979.