Lex Luthor, done right.

[llozymandias]

Lex Luthor is best done as an evil super-genius super-scientist, whose main desire/ambition is to own/dominate/control/rule everyone & everything in existance.  The best motive for his hatred of Superman?  Superman is the main obstacle to Lex achieving his goals.  Plus Superman keeps sending Lex back to prison.

[Permanus]

I hate the "Lex Luthor, businessman" that John Byrne introduced, which was basically swiped from Daredevil's ongoing fight with the Kingpin. To me, Lex should be the guy in the purple-and-green pyjamas, who poses a real threat to Superman without being a really bad guy for all that. They keep sending him to prison, and he stays there for as long as he likes, but no longer.

He's crazy. He hates Superman and wants to kill him. Apart from that, he's a pretty decent guy, who just happens to be the most intelligent man on Earth, and would spend his time searching for the cure for AIDS if it weren't for his personality disorder.

If you think about it on a mythic level, it's actually pretty disappointing that Luthor's intellect always loses to Superman's brawn... Is this really the message we want to pass on to our children?

[Super Monkey]

Grant Morrison's All-Star version of him is pretty dead on Perfect., IMHO.

[Psybertrack]

Lex isn't the most intelligent . He could be .  He is a character trapped by his tragic flaw, jealousy of Superman.  he hates him. He cant control Superman like he controls so many others.
In the real world Lex would hardly ever go to jail. Did Reagan? Did Nixon?Did Clinton? Did Bush's daddy? Did GW Bush? ok the last one is still pending. ( Oh heck I like that crazy Texan anyway!)
The rich and powerful seldom take the fall. While the poor and weak go to jail early and often for crimes they never commit.
But in comics we have superman and super justice.
Lex is a criminal genius and a scientific genius. Financially and business wise he's good, but surrounds himself with expert advisors behind the scenes.  The Lois and Clark tv show and the Byrne  Super-Trump biz guy Luthor is a different story, but I like it better than the SUper friends /leagion of doom Luthor .   Brawn over mind. The complete man is a combination of strength in body, mind, and spirit. Luthor's mind is in the upper 95% of the world , but his soul and spirit are dark and corrupted.
This limits him and trips him up time and again. In short LL is his own worst enemy.  As seen in alternate earth versions of Alex Luthor , he could've been a hero.

[Psybertrack]

also,
most people would probably like Lex Luthor if they met him. He give to PETA and other charities . He's a benefactor to many causes. He's sophisticated and classy. Like a Rapper-Star he's living Large!
His public image is likable. He'd probably be a good parent to. But his secret side is more sinister. Clark and Lois know, as does Bruce but many think those things are just rumors started by a vast anti -luthor conspiracy.

Interestingly in the tv series , he's absoulutely different ("Smallville" WB tv) .  He's innocent at first, the victim of being the son of a ruthless, tyrant business mogul, Lionel Luthor (who has a VERY shady past).
He's the victim of dysfunctional family too. He has few real friends except this one guy a farmboy who has some secret which he just won't share with his best buddy Lex.
Lex believes he is destined for greatness, but is Clark a threat to his future plans to be President of the US?
keep your friends close and your enemies closer and the unknown ones closest of all!

[DoctorZero]

The businessman Lex wore thin rather quickly.  The silver age version had much more possibilities than the Byrne version had.

[llozymandias]

Luthor was created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.  Jerry wrote him as an evil super-genius who wanted to conquer the universe.  Why are so many fans & pros opposed to Luthor being evil? Or a megalomaniac?  Or a super-genius super-scientist?  Why the desire to marginalize Luthor into a mere background character?  Even the most evil beings can be nice, decent, & loving towards friends & family.  Btw in most pre-crisis stories Lex vs Kal is not brains against brawn.  It's brains against brains.

[lonewolf23k]

I'll admit, I enjoyed how the Animated Series handled Lex..   Personally, I like the idea of Lex using his intelligence to make a gigantic fortune legally...

...Of course, I'd have him turn around and then use that money to fund the operation of a huge super-scientific Mafia-style criminal organisation.  Like an Ultra-Scientific Mob Boss.  And while he might regularly get sent to prison, I see him buying or lawyering his way out as often as breaking out through scientific genius.

Still, my point is that I think Lex is smart enough to realize he can make a lot more money legally then illegally, but also arrogant enough to believe he's above the law, and act accordingly.  I also see him as utterly sociopathic, doing some things largely because it interests him, no matter how savagely criminal they may seem.  He'd easily justify abusing other people as "natural superiority."

As for his motivation for hating Superman, I have a very simple one: he doesn't like seeing ANYONE with more power then he does not being under his thumb.  If he can't control Superman, he'll kill him.