"Surely it must be Elon Musk??" — Internet reacts to Time Magazine revealing its shortlisted candidates for Person Of The Year

On Monday, December 9, TIME Magazine released a shortlist of candidates who were in the running to become TIME's Person of the Year. The shortlist contained 10 names—Kamala Harris, Kate Middleton, Elon Musk, Yulia Navalnaya, Benjamin Netanyahu, Jerome Powell, Joe Rogan, Claudia Sheinbaum, Donald Trump, and Mark Zuckerberg.

A tweet about the announcement was also posted on the TIME magazine X handle later on Monday evening and has since gone viral, amassing 1.2 million views. Some netizens reacted to the news claiming that Elon Musk would be winning the title.

While many netizens spoke in favor of Kate Middleton winning TIME Magazine's Person of the Year title in the comments section.

"Kate Middleton, Elon Musk and Donald Trump shortlisted for Time Person of the year? The far right had an incredible year I guess...," replied an X user.

"I’m pretty sure you’ve chosen Trump. I would love to see the Princess of Wales take the title, though," commented another.

"Win this or not. She’s [Kate Middleton] already won many hearts. A strong woman that just keeps coming back no matter what people throw at her. Couldn’t be more proud!" posted a third one.

Meanwhile, others appeared surprised to see Kamala Harris making the shortlist and claimed that her victory for the title would incur TIME magazine a loss.

"Hardly anyone would buy the magazine if it's Kamala. Who wants a story about America's biggest loser? If it's Trump, copies will sell out by us who want to mark his relentless efforts, overcoming 2 assassination attempts, and capturing hearts for hope throughout America," wrote a fourth netizen.

"Why would you make Kamala the one that lost the election person of the year? If anyone other than The Don wins person of the year, your magazine will be done, well, it will be soon anyway cause legacy media is dead," added a fifth one.

"How much money has Kamala offered you in order to have her picture on the front page, remember she paid almost one million dollars to have her picture displayed in Vegas," replied a sixth user.

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A look at the winners of TIME Magazine's Person of the Year title over the years

Four of the names that were added to the 2024 TIME magazine's shortlist have already won the title in the past. In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg was titled Person of the Year after the user base of his brainchild, Facebook, grew twice as big as the USA's population at the time. The feature article about him in the magazine said:

"We have entered the Facebook age, and Mark Zuckerberg is the man who brought us here."

Five years later, Donald Trump—who has been elected as the President of the US twice—was named TIME's Person of the Year. His feature article explained:

"For reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow's political culture by demolishing yesterday's, Donald Trump is Time 2016 Person of the Year."

Four years later, in 2020, Kamala Harris shared the title of Person of the Year alongside Joe Biden. They were the Vice President-elect and the President-elect at the time, and won the title for their roles in "changing the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world."

The following year, Elon Musk won the title. The Tesla and SpaceX founder also became the richest person in the world that year and was honored for his "influence on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth too."

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The TIME magazine article with the shortlist also announced that the announcement of the Person of the Year title will be made on Thursday, December 12.