>"Jeff is in fact is an exceptionally intelligent man"

Equally true for Generals in charge of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht.

Smart people can do no wrong?

Good example I guess. German rocket technology was a decade past anyone else. The space race and moon landing wouldn't have been possible without the Nazis. But I don't think anyone is stupid enough to argue it was a worthwhile trade off

You can find a lot of people in academia just as smart with 2 Twitter followers.

My point is, everyone listens to Jeff and the other billionaires because they're rich. That's literally the only reason. They're modern day kings as rich as the robber barons of old.