In brief
- Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of Netflix’s Squid Game, says the VIP characters now reflect visible billionaires like Elon Musk, who “control the world almost.”
- Musk recently stepped down from leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a spending-cut agency.
- Hwang said both the show’s plot and real life demonstrate how the ultra-rich, from tech moguls to oligarchs, are “taking off their masks” and openly shaping global events.
The creator of Squid Game says the show’s wealthy villains increasingly reflect real-world billionaires, and Elon Musk, in particular, comes to mind.
“Elon Musk is everywhere these days, right? Everybody talks about him,” Hwang Dong-hyuk told TIME magazine on Friday. “Not only is he the head of a huge tech company that controls the world almost, but he’s also this showman. After writing [Season 3], of course I thought, ‘Oh, some of the VIPs do kind of resemble Elon Musk.'”
Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX, have been approached for comment.
The remarks come just as Squid Game Season 3, the final installment of Netflix’s most-watched series, premiered on June 27, bringing the global phenomenon to a bloody close.
This time, the show’s billionaire spectators, also called the “VIPs,” do more than watch; they abandon their animal masks and dinner dresses to don pink soldier uniforms and personally hunt down contestants with machine guns.
The show’s evolving portrayal of the ultra-rich reflects Hwang’s frustration with the growing visibility and influence of real-world oligarchs.
The timing is particularly noteworthy given Musk’s current net worth of $409.8 billion, which exceeds the GDP of 24 countries, including Denmark, Iran, and Malaysia.
“In the past, those that really controlled the system and maintained power, they were hidden behind the curtain,” Hwang told TIME. “However, it’s no longer the case, especially in America.”
“We talk a lot about oligarchy these days… The people who really control the power and the system, they no longer hide behind a curtain,” he said. “They willingly take their masks off, almost as if to declare, ‘We’re the ones running everything. We’re the ones in control.’”
The richest man in the world recently stepped down from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created to slash federal spending but mired in controversy over its humanitarian impact and disputed savings claims.
Since leaving DOGE, Musk has publicly clashed with Trump over a $2.4 trillion spending bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination” that undermines everything DOGE achieved.
Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s lavish Venice wedding, scheduled the same weekend as Season 3’s release, reportedly cost $46 million and required 90 private jets for guest transportation.
Apart from wealth concentration, Hwang drew inspiration from worldwide political polarization and South Korea’s recent declaration of martial law by former President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
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