Sure a CEO does other shit. It’s all the same stuff a manager would do. You really think that if daddy Musk vanished the literal rocket scientists working there wouldn’t be able to keep doing their work? The trained accountants and managerial staff would curl up under their desks unable to carry on? The value of a CEO is both real, and extremely overstated. They’d have a new CEO before the end of the month.

In a nutshell, yes he runs the company. No it isn’t some badge of genius, he manages a company. Many other people are just as, if not more qualified.

If he keeled over dead SpaceX would keep functioning as it is held up by the actual employees who do the actual work. All a CEO does is provide goals, directions, and demands for more profits. They’re a glorified overpaid manager and those are not in short supply.