{"id":200043,"date":"2025-02-19T12:54:57","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T17:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=200043"},"modified":"2025-02-19T12:54:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T17:54:59","slug":"how-americans-view-elon-musk-and-mark-zuckerberg","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/02\/19\/how-americans-view-elon-musk-and-mark-zuckerberg\/","title":{"rendered":"How Americans view Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Elon
Elon Musk (left) listens as President-elect Donald Trump addresses the House Republican Conference in November 2024 in Washington, D.C.; Mark Zuckerberg appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee in January 2024. (Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images and Andrew Caballero-Reynolds\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Americans\u2019 views of two prominent tech executives \u2013 Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg \u2013 tilt more negative than positive. Musk is a deeply polarizing figure, with Republicans largely viewing him favorably and Democrats largely unfavorably. By contrast, views of Zuckerberg are less polarized, with majorities in both parties viewing him unfavorably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they have an unfavorable view of Musk,<\/strong> including 36% who have a very<\/em> unfavorable opinion of him. About four-in-ten (42%) express a favorable view, including 11% who are very<\/em> favorable, according to a Pew Research Center survey<\/a> conducted Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musk is the head of companies such as Tesla and X (formerly Twitter). He is also currently a \u201cspecial government employee\u201d<\/a> of the Trump administration, leading the Department of Government Efficiency as it seeks to cut federal spending<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/summary>\n

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand Americans\u2019 views of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this analysis, we surveyed 5,086 adults from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Surveys were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other factors. Read more about the ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the questions used for this report<\/a>, the topline<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Two-thirds of Americans have an unfavorable view of Zuckerberg.<\/strong> This includes 26% who are very<\/em> unfavorable toward him. Another quarter view him favorably, including just 2% who see him very <\/em>favorably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zuckerburg is the chairman and CEO of Meta, a company that owns social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg hasn\u2019t been immune to political debates, including over his recent decision to end fact-checking on his platforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few Americans are unfamiliar<\/em> with either of these tech leaders. Fewer than one-in-ten say they\u2019ve never heard of Musk (3%) or Zuckerberg (6%). Previous Center surveys have found that Americans largely feel that social media companies have too much power in American politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Views of Musk, Zuckerberg by party<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

With his recent involvement in the Trump administration, views of Musk are deeply divided along party lines. Republicans are far more favorable than Democrats toward Musk:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n