The culture of financiers and business leaders as public celebrities began in the 1920s. Figures like National City Bank's Charlie Mitchell were featured on magazine covers alongside sports heroes, mirroring the modern-day celebrity status of tech leaders like Elon Musk and Sam Altman.

Scipio consciously fostered rumors of divine parentage and inspiration from gods like Jupiter. This carefully crafted, Alexander the Great-style persona built immense charisma and instilled confidence in his followers, convincing them his plans were divinely ordained and destined for success.

The concept of the "celebrity CEO" originated in the 1920s. The launch of new media like Time Magazine (1923) and Forbes (1917) shifted public focus, putting business leaders on magazine covers alongside sports heroes, making them aspirational figures and fueling public desire to invest.

While the era of powerful, personality-driven magazine editors has faded, the model itself persists. It has simply migrated to the tech industry, where founders like Elon Musk command a similar level of reverence and fear, becoming the new focal point for this leadership style.

Unlike platforms where content goes viral, Instagram’s original design prohibited resharing. This forced the focus onto individual creators, making people—not posts—the unit of virality. This key decision turned personal accounts into 'life resumes' and fueled the rise of influencers.

While composers before him inspired devotion, Wagner cultivated a new level of intense, personal adoration, creating a phenomenon of "Wagner mania." This was driven by his self-promotion and the overwhelming emotional power of his work, establishing a model for artist-fan relationships that persists today with dedicated fan bases.

Boswell’s determined pursuit of famous men like Samuel Johnson was not mere fandom. He was actively seeking a "moral sheet anchor" to guide him and provide the stability his own father didn't, showing a deeper motivation behind celebrity fascination.

Society is shifting its source of authority from billionaires to the "poster class." As billionaire status becomes less scarce and their influence wanes, they are becoming subservient to top online posters, seeking their attention and validation. This indicates posters are the next group to be revered.

Described as being "obsessed by celebrity," James Boswell's relentless pursuit and detailed journaling of famous figures like Dr. Johnson was a precursor to modern celebrity journalism. His method of "bagging famous people" created an unprecedentedly intimate and detailed historical record, forming the basis of modern biography.