What would you give to see two of the richest men in the world throw poorly aimed haymakers at each other? Better give that a serious thought because The Verge now report that Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk could be enemies.
If you’re wondering what I mean by “fight,” I mean like a fight. A physical fight A punch-and-kick type of fight. A fight where a guy eventually collapses to the mat in a lifeless heap and a guy stands over him sweating and bleeding and shout “VICTORYYYY.” (I’m obviously speculating but I think that’s how I think it goes down.)
How did this remarkable turn of events happen?
Well, like most fights, it started with some good shit-talking. And, as you might have guessed, Musk got the ball rolling up front.
In review, tensions have been high between the Meta CEO and the Twitter CEO since Meta announced its plans launching a clear rival to Twitter. The new platform, which is still in testing and is currently called internally Project 92 (although it can be called “Threads”), is seen as a direct threat to the floating Twitter’s survival. Top Meta execs are also upset about the fact that the app is a Twitter lookalike, with one of Zuckerberg’s top lieutenants recently calling it Meta’s “replied on Twitter.”
Clearly fired up by all of this, Musk recently responded by doing what he does best, which is to create trollish jokes. On Tuesday, in reference to Meta’s new app, Musk tweeted: “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other choice.”
In response, one Twitter user quipped: “Better be careful @elonmusk I heard he’s doing ju-jitsu now.” Of course, they are targeting the recent Meta CEO martial arts escapadeswhich is linked to his serious bulking up.
Musk then released a typical Musk joke: “I’m in for a cage game if he is lol.”
You’d think that would be the end of it, but then Zuckerberg responded on Instagram, posting a screenshot of Musk’s tweet with a Jason Bourne-style caption attached: “send me the location.”
At this point, the natural response to this bit of back and forth is to consider it a bit of a good fight between corporate enemies. Just two rich guys having fun with each other, right?
But now, Zuckerberg’s comms team appears to be moving things along and The Verge has announced that, no, it really is Zuck. COME jump in a ring with Elon—or, at least, he’s committed to saying he’ll walk until Elon walks with his tail between his legs. The deputy editor of The Verge, Alex Heath, said that he “confirmed that Zuckerberg’s post on his Instagram account was, in fact, not a joke, which means that the ball is now in Musk’s court.”
!!!!!
Look, there are few sporting events that I would pay good money to see but this has to be one of them. As for who will win…I honestly have no idea. Musk looks pretty tall but he seems to spend most of his time behind a keyboard, dishing out snark to the masses via his failed social media platform. Zuck, on the other hand, physically trains like he’s about to be dropped into a war zone Rambo style. The impressive feat was somewhat undone by recent claims in the New York Times that he fell during one of his matches (although Zuck disputed the claims).
Either way, I believe we, as a nation, need this fight to happen. We have been apart for a long time. Enough of the division and the partisan fighting! Enough with the culture war! What we all really need is to come together to watch two billionaires beat the living tar out of each other for bad personal and professional reasons. Let’s do it, America!
