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Description

    Lex Luthor is the wealthiest man in the world. He grew his company LexCorp from a one-man garage operation to an international juggernaut, one whose technologies fill homes and businesses in every nation on the planet. This is in no small part thanks to the fact that Lex is also one of the smartest men in the world. He started LexCorp with the dream of bringing mankind into a techno-utopian future, where anyone with brains and willpower can succeed beyond their wildest dreams. And his inventions, his philanthropy and humanitarian work, and his public speaking all back this up.
     Of course, there are those who claim that he only got where he is thanks to startup money from his wealthy father. That he only stays where he is thanks to shady dealings, worker exploitation, and highly questionable business practices. That he is a masterful schemer, but a middling scientist who gets by on stealing ideas from greater minds. That he gets significantly more in tax write-offs than he ever actually donates. Even that his hesitance to endorse Superman has less to do with concern over an unaccountable alien superpower deciding mankind’s fate, and more to do with bitterness that anyone could be more powerful than he, let alone dare to keep him from doing anything he wants.
      But great men will always have their small-minded detractors. Some people just always have to be contrary. They’re probably just jealous.

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     I was as baffled as anyone at Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex in 2016. But the more time passed, the more sense Lex-as-techbro started to make. I also used to think it was unbelievable that he could possibly still have good PR after all these years, let along be elected President! Well. So my version here is mostly Musk, with a healthy mixing of Bezos and Zuckerberg, and a little dash of Trump.
     The one thing I'm not sure of is whether Lex really is as smart as he claims. My instinct is to highlight the real-world fact that the wealthiest people are definitely NOT the most intelligent. OTOH, looking at past Superman media I suspect that even if you start out by focusing on his corrupt businessman aspect, over time you get the urge to have Lex himself be the one to work on a lot of his evil super-gadgets. Otherwise he's a lot less impressive or intimidating, and a lot more restricted in what he can and can't do. Plus then you've got a fun "brains vs. brawn" thing between him and Supes (though I reject the notion that Superman isn't a smart guy, himself, he's just not a scientist.) Maybe he helps out on designing a lot of his tech, but overestimates his own importance in the process. That would be pretty in-character.

Description

    Lex Luthor is the wealthiest man in the world. He grew his company LexCorp from a one-man garage operation to an international juggernaut, one whose technologies fill homes and businesses in every nation on the planet. This is in no small part thanks to the fact that Lex is also one of the smartest men in the world. He started LexCorp with the dream of bringing mankind into a techno-utopian future, where anyone with brains and willpower can succeed beyond their wildest dreams. And his inventions, his philanthropy and humanitarian work, and his public speaking all back this up.
     Of course, there are those who claim that he only got where he is thanks to startup money from his wealthy father. That he only stays where he is thanks to shady dealings, worker exploitation, and highly questionable business practices. That he is a masterful schemer, but a middling scientist who gets by on stealing ideas from greater minds. That he gets significantly more in tax write-offs than he ever actually donates. Even that his hesitance to endorse Superman has less to do with concern over an unaccountable alien superpower deciding mankind’s fate, and more to do with bitterness that anyone could be more powerful than he, let alone dare to keep him from doing anything he wants.
      But great men will always have their small-minded detractors. Some people just always have to be contrary. They’re probably just jealous.

---

     I was as baffled as anyone at Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex in 2016. But the more time passed, the more sense Lex-as-techbro started to make. I also used to think it was unbelievable that he could possibly still have good PR after all these years, let along be elected President! Well. So my version here is mostly Musk, with a healthy mixing of Bezos and Zuckerberg, and a little dash of Trump.
     The one thing I'm not sure of is whether Lex really is as smart as he claims. My instinct is to highlight the real-world fact that the wealthiest people are definitely NOT the most intelligent. OTOH, looking at past Superman media I suspect that even if you start out by focusing on his corrupt businessman aspect, over time you get the urge to have Lex himself be the one to work on a lot of his evil super-gadgets. Otherwise he's a lot less impressive or intimidating, and a lot more restricted in what he can and can't do. Plus then you've got a fun "brains vs. brawn" thing between him and Supes (though I reject the notion that Superman isn't a smart guy, himself, he's just not a scientist.) Maybe he helps out on designing a lot of his tech, but overestimates his own importance in the process. That would be pretty in-character.