Enh, I thought tucker max was an idiot (he was, and way back in the day his gross outshone his funny for me); he's probably still a dick, but as compared to Nick, he at least had the arrogance of youth as an excuse, and he also moved on to real-ish efforts in life, did well, and has pivoted again to other things. And as you said, better to go publicly wild in your 20s than at 40.
Tucker Max is 7ish years older than Nick, finished (from a far, far better) law school 14 years earlier, practiced less than Nick (not at all; he was fired from a summer associate job during law school and afaik never attempted another law job), and has since spent time actually working in his -qqqway, and making a ton of money, for the last 20 years. He's undeniably smart, and is savvy, even if not a "good" person. His wife is a nurse practitioner who monetizes it with remote (and maybe concierge/ non-insurance-based, I'm not sure) care. He also, while maintaining a SM presence and doing publicity for his efforts, doesn't seem to live/die by it. So I don't necessarily think much of Max as a human, but by comparison to Nick, he wins on all fronts.