Elon Musk names Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and these founders from Google and Oracle among the smartest people he knows

The world's richest man, Elon Musk, has praised tech industry leaders Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, and even Larry Page, as among the smartest people he knows. "Larry Ellison is very smart," Musk said on the "Verdict" podcast hosted by Senator Ted Cruz, referring to the Oracle cofounder. "I will say Larry Ellison is one of the smartest people." Musk continued his praise by also mentioning co-founder Larry Page.
Musk's comment comes as no surprise given the pair's long-standing relationship. Ellison served on Tesla's board from 2018 to 2022 and pledged $1 billion toward Musk's Twitter acquisition. Musk and Ellison have been described as "very close friends," with Ellison said to have helped him secure valuable Nvidia GPUs for AI development.
Elon Musk continued his praise by also mentioning Google co-founder, Larry Page.

The world's richest man emphasized that he measures intelligence through tangible achievements. "To some degree, smart is as smart does," Musk explained. "What have they done that is difficult and significant? You know, Jeff Bezos has done a lot of difficult and significant things."
The complimentary remarks about Bezos are particularly noteworthy, considering the well-documented 20-year rivalry between the two billionaires, primarily centered around their competing space companies—Bezos’ Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX. However, recently, the dynamics of their relationship have changed. In January of this year, Musk posted a series of memes suggesting a reconciliation, including clips from the comedy film “Step Brothers” with the caption, “the perfect meme for @JeffBezos & me.”