We've transitioned from celebrating scientific pioneers in the 19th-20th century to venerating capitalist CEOs in the 20th century who amassed wealth through market domination and reduced wages.

Edison, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockerfeller...

Same shit back then. Careful of the rose colored glasses.

Yeah... a lot of people are venerated posthumously, whereas others can afford to pay to be venerated in their own time.
Tbf there has been a shift from manufacturing industry to financial industry.
- And that financial industry bled into the other industries, and started stealing the credit.
  
  Musk is a good example. The perfect one, really. True engineers and scientists could be the figureheads of those companies, but when you think Space X, you think of that wart of a human being.
  
  Edison was a shithead with his company and his money, but he was still the genuine article when it came to engineering. More than can be said for Musk.

A lot of scientific pioneers in the 19th century were rich men who could afford the equipment to conduct their experiments.

They made their money from exploiting others in different fields.

Literally fields

Not to take away from your shower thought OP, but more to soften the blow (because yeah, we for sure are worshipping billionaire fucksticks like Elon Musk as a society), we are still awarding the Nobel Prize to people who make strides in scientific areas that benefit humanity.

The people who discovered mRNA technology and prepped it for clinical use were just given the Nobel prize this week: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/10/02/1202941256/nobel-prize-goes-to-scientists-who-made-mrna-covid-vaccines-possible

The reward for a Nobel prize is about 900k€, shared between the winner of a given prize. The last ceo of the cac40 in France makes 1400k€/year. The average for the cac40 is 4500k€/year. That's a salary btw, there probably are other revenues with that.
- Oh no!!!! I didn't know it was split between all 3 of them! I thought each were given around $1M. That is still not enough for their contributions to society (especially in lieu of billionaires who do nothing), but it's especially obscene that they all get closer to $300K instead.

What about the 19th century tycoons who paid to manufacture their own veneration through philanthropy fueled by the wealth they unjustly amassed?

Atleast we don't celebrate royalty anymore. Right? Right???

Oi, mate. I know you were watching Doctor Who, however i've decided to hold up all TV broadcasts here for the next few days to inform you that the queen has died.

Great Nritain
- Also you're now the subject of that old berk, who you always thought was kind of a ponce, as they're now the ruler of the land by divine mandate. Waheyyyyyy...
How many people actually celebrate them, though? Like, percentage wise? The media maybe, out of a perverse sense of tradition, but the people?

Most people seem to range from festering hatred of the institution to indifference. Maybe enjoyment of the spectacle, or a dated reverence for an office that has long lost any true meaning, but actually celebrating them? Feels like that's something you don't find too much.

Now we actually demonize scientists and science in general, right from the pinnacle of science, the mobile phone. Humanity is a joke

Octopi have it figured out.

Swim around, punch fish, fuck out some kids and then die.

It all goes back to the "American (lie) dream". The idea that with enough hard work you will become rich and better than your parents. The CEOs have to make their succes fit the narrative so they pretend to be scientists who worked hard.