system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[DC Comics] What do other villains think of Lex Luthor?

In a lot of incarnations, most people don’t know that Lex Luthor is a villain. He is mostly seen as a regular businessman/philanthropist/scientist who is actually known to be a pretty cool guy. Even when people do find out about his villainous habitats, it’s often after a lot of encounters at the hands of Superman and the Justice League.

So what do villains think of him?

Other than the ones he personally employs and hires, what do supervillains think of Lex Luthor? 

Thanks!
gpt
Short version: he's the smartest guy in the room, and they all know it.  This is the guy who throws down with *Superman* and sometimes even wins.  This is the guy who (sometimes) invites the *Joker* to supervillain teamups - and somehow gets him to play nice.  Do they like him or admire him?  Most villains are low on those qualities in general, being megalomaniac jackasses and all.  But almost all of them have a healthy respect for Lex's intelligence and managerial capabilities, in the same way almost all of them have a healthy fear of the Joker - because lacking those emotions is typically *not* healthy.

And yeah, if you're at all involved in the supervillain community, you *do* know Lex has his fingers in supervillain business - because he does hire supervillains to do his dirty work all the time, and he pays well enough to keep them from squealing but not enough to keep them from gossiping.