Being wealthy and well-known tends to put a person in a position of stronger influence. It has always been like this, the phenomenon just got a lot stronger as social media gained traction. Sometimes people like this have genuine authority in given topics, other times their expertise is questionable. So I'd say we should always be cautious and not just follow others blindly. In the case of Elon Musk, it is worth looking into his possible motives behind saying certain things, the power he has over people's decisions, and whether or not he is talking about a topic he is knowledgeable in. I personally take a lot of his declarations with a grain of salt.