Do you guys think this maniac understands the sway he has over his legion of stans?

Yes. This is no way on earth his cult following is a fully natural occurrence. This appears to be a growing trend of the oligarchy - especially as the long-term reliability of monetary and legal systems becomes questionable. These cult followings are actively cultivated. They are an investment.

For people like Elon, Trump, Gates, etc. this seems obvious to me, but to put on my tinfoil hat for a moment, some of the more strange phenomena like Reddit's obsession with Keanu Reeves strike me as similar propaganda strategies which for one reason or another spun off the rails completely. Then there are the oligarchs like Jeff Bezos or Peter Thiel who are either too toxic to meme, or just never bothered hiring a good firm.

If you've got Elon or Bezos money though, you can spend a hundred million dollars a year just to run a think tank designed to make people think you're good. It won't even make a dent in your wallet. If anything, it will make you more rich and powerful.