Nah, it’s the result of “yes man” culture.

He thought he was always right, because he thinks he’s smart.

So if an employee disagreed with him, it’s because they weren’t smart. So he got rid of them and promoted people who would agree with them.

After a couple years that means everyone around him would just agree and tell Elon he was a genius.

With no constructive criticism, he’d start making wilder plans, and everyone would still call him a genius. And it just spirals.

He went full Kanye, never go full Kanye.