The most interesting higher ed lens regarding Musk’s leadership style is not Tesla or SpaceX but Twitter. While the Twitter story may not be over, it is hard to argue with the conclusion that Musk’s ownership has done significant damage to the platform. The leadership style that enabled the creation of a world-changing electric car company and the (seemingly successful) privatization of orbital rockets has been a disaster at the media and tech company that was Twitter. (Or X, or whatever it calls itself.) Thankfully, it is unlikely that a new university president who emulates the leadership style of Elon Musk could do as much damage to their institution as Musk has done to Twitter. Nonprofit universities are built (although not exclusively) on systems of distributed leadership. Power is diffused at colleges and universities, meaning top academic leaders must lead (at least partly) through coalition building and persuasion.