It was December 2021 when the red-bordered magazine hit the stands, and honestly, the world hasn't really stopped arguing about it since. Elon Musk stared out from the Time Elon Musk cover with a weirdly soft expression, his now-infamous "undercut" haircut looking sharp, and the internet basically imploded. Some people saw a visionary. Others saw a "clown" or an "edgelord."
Time didn't just call him a billionaire. They called him a "madcap hybrid of Thomas Edison, P.T. Barnum, Andrew Carnegie and Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan." That is a lot of baggage for one cover photo.
The 2021 Person of the Year Chaos
When Time Magazine names its Person of the Year, it’s not meant to be a gold star for good behavior. It’s a marker of influence. 2021 was a year where Musk was everywhere. Tesla stock was hitting the moon, SpaceX was launching civilian crews, and he was moving crypto markets with a single, often confusing, tweet.
The Time Elon Musk cover for that year was shot by Mark Mahaney at the SpaceX Starbase in Texas. It’s a tight, high-contrast portrait. Musk looks focused, almost somber. But the backlash was swift. Senator Elizabeth Warren used the cover to pivot straight to tax policy, tweeting that the tax code should be rigged so that the "Person of the Year will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading."
Musk, in typical fashion, didn't stay quiet. He fired back, calling her "Senator Karen." It was a peak 2021 moment—a mix of high-stakes global industry and schoolyard insults.
That Recent Oval Office Image (Real or Fake?)
Fast forward to early 2025, and a new Time Elon Musk cover started circulating that looked way different. This one showed Musk sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. It immediately sparked a "is this real?" frenzy across social media.
The image surfaced right as Musk’s influence in the second Trump administration began to peak. While the 2021 cover was a definitive, physical magazine you could buy at an airport, this "Resolute Desk" image was a lightning rod for political anxiety. It symbolized the blurring lines between corporate power and government authority.
Interestingly, Trump himself weighed in on it during an Oval Office gaggle, jokingly asking if Time was "still in print." It’s a meta-narrative that keeps these covers in the Google Discover feed years after the physical paper has yellowed.
The "Architects of AI" Era (2025)
By the end of 2025, Musk was back on the cover, but he had to share the spotlight. Time named the "Architects of AI" as the 2025 Person of the Year.
This cover was a clever homage to the iconic 1932 "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" photo. You’ve seen the original—construction workers eating on a steel beam high above Manhattan. In the 2025 version, it’s a lineup of tech titans. Musk (representing xAI) is there alongside:
📖 Related: ORCL Stock After Hours: Why Oracle’s AI Pivot Is Getting Messy
- Jensen Huang of Nvidia
- Sam Altman from OpenAI
- Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind
- Lisa Su from AMD
- Fei-Fei Li, the "Godmother of AI"
It marked a shift in how we view Musk. He’s no longer just the "rocket man" or the "car guy." He’s one of the few individuals who has managed to be the face of multiple technological revolutions in a single decade.
Why These Covers Actually Matter for SEO
If you're wondering why people are still Googling "Time Elon Musk cover" in 2026, it's because these images have become cultural shorthand. They represent the exact moment where public opinion shifted.
In 2013, when he first appeared on the Time 100 list, he was the underdog. In 2021, he was the conqueror. By 2025, he was the establishment. Each cover acts as a timestamp for his evolution from a tech-disruptor to a geopolitical force.
✨ Don't miss: Callie Field T-Mobile: What Really Happened with the Un-carrier Legend
There's also the "fake cover" phenomenon. Because Musk is such a polarizing figure, people constantly create mock-up Time covers to mock him or celebrate him. This creates a massive amount of search traffic from people trying to verify what’s legitimate.
Actionable Insights: Navigating the Musk Narrative
Whether you love the guy or think he’s the world’s biggest distraction, there are a few things you can actually do to stay informed without getting lost in the "stan" vs. "hater" wars:
- Check the Credit: Always look for the photographer or illustrator credit on a Time cover. If it’s missing or looks like a grainy AI generation, it’s probably a fake.
- Read the Editor's Letter: Time always publishes a "Why We Chose..." article. It provides the nuance that the cover photo lacks.
- Monitor the Policy Shifts: Don't just look at the photo; look at what happened in the weeks following. Usually, these covers precede major regulatory or political shifts.
Keep an eye on the official Time archives. They are the only way to separate the real cultural milestones from the latest viral Photoshop job.