Mark Cuban knows how to troll with a purpose—especially when Elon Musk is involved. But when he sent Musk a congratulatory text for the birth of yet another child, he didn't expect a reply that sounded straight out of a sci-fi pitch meeting: "Mars needs people."
That's not a punchline. That's the actual text Cuban says he got back.
In a 2022 appearance on the "Full Send Podcast", Cuban got real about the limits of AI, the longevity of human health, and, naturally, Musk. "He's a different dude," Cuban said, when asked whether they'd ever be close. "I know Elon like a tiny bit. He had another kid—this is before the last three or whatever—and I'm like, ‘Dude, congratulations. How many are you going to have?' He goes—sends me a text back—‘Mars needs people.'" Cuban added, "That's what he does."
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Cue stunned laughter from the podcast hosts. Cuban shrugged, "I don't think he likes me."
And while the line reads like a classic Musk troll, he's dead serious about it. Musk has long argued that humanity's best shot at survival is becoming a multiplanetary species. He's repeatedly said Earth is vulnerable—nuclear war, pandemics, rogue AI—and wants to build a self-sustaining city on Mars with up to a million people by 2050. So yeah, when he says "Mars needs people," he's not joking—he's recruiting.
By 2024, Cuban was still retelling the story—this time on "This Past Weekend with Theo Von"—adding a little more context and a few more jabs. "I helped him with something, or tried to, so I had his number," Cuban recalled. "He had a kid and I'm like, ‘Congrats on your 97th kid,' and he texts me back: ‘Mars needs people.' And I'm like, that's funny as f***."
But the bromance stops there.
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Cuban said things got a little rockier when he tweeted something less-than-glowing about Tesla. Musk didn't take it well. "He just sends me a text with the article and it says, ‘F*** you.' That's it. Just ‘F*** you,'" Cuban laughed.
"He's thin-skinned," Cuban continued, noting that Musk has since called him a "racist," hit him with the infamous poop emoji, and hurled other insults. "That just gives me license to f*** with him even more," Cuban said. "I don't give a f*** what he thinks."
Despite the name-calling, Cuban made it clear he still respects Musk's entrepreneurial streak. "SpaceX, Starlink, Tesla—dude's the entrepreneur of our generation," he said. "There's nobody close."
Even with that praise, Cuban's stance is unbothered. "He says some stupid s***," he admitted. "And I have no problem calling him out."
As for whether they'll ever squash the beef?
Probably not. But Cuban seems just fine keeping the banter alive—one Mars baby joke at a time.
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