Tech titans Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg might be ready to meet in the ring for a cage match to settle an intense multi-year rivalry. Here's a look back at their differences over the years.
What Happened: A proposed fight between Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Musk and Meta Platforms META CEO Zuckerberg comes as a new social media platform is being launched that could make the two respective companies bigger rivals.
While the launch of a new text-based social media platform from Meta Platforms is likely to make the company a more significant competitive threat to Musk-owned Twitter, the two CEOs have been rivals for many years, long pre-dating their most recent tussle.
Related Link: Musk Vs. Zuckerberg: Benzinga Users Favor One Billionaire If Biggest Fight In 'History Of The World' Happens
Old Rivalry History: Despite several public disagreements on social media, the competition between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg may have truly intensified in 2016, particularly in relation to the space industry.
During that year, Facebook leased bandwidth from an Israeli-built satellite that would be used to help with its efforts to provide internet access in regions in Africa, according to ARS Technica.
The satellite in question exploded in September 2016 while affixed to a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX, the space company owned by Musk. The satellite was a total loss after the rocket explosion.
“I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite,” Zuckerberg said on Facebook of the incident. “As I’m here in Africa, I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent.”
Zuckerberg's remarks reportedly did not sit well with either SpaceX or Musk. Some believed that his comments, which placed blame on SpaceX and highlighted potential impacts on the people of Africa, were over the line.
In 2018, Musk escalated the rivalry with Zuckerberg and the company then known as Facebook. Amid increasing concerns over Facebook's data-sharing practices during the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Musk urged people to "Delete Facebook."
Musk shared that he “didn’t realize” there was a Facebook account for SpaceX, and said that the Facebook account for Tesla “looked lame anyway.” The two Facebook accounts for the Musk-led companies were deleted.
Instagram accounts for Tesla and SpaceX remained active at the time. Although, Musk has criticized both Facebook and Instagram over the years.
“It’s not a political statement and I didn’t do this because someone dared me to do it. Just don’t like Facebook. Gives me the willies. Sorry,” Musk said of deleting the Facebook accounts.
In an interview, Musk admitted to having a secret Instagram account that he can use to click on links.
“Instagram, man – it’s a thirst trap, you know.”
Musk said he previously used a personal public Instagram account, but found himself taking a lot of selfies as a result and questioned why he was doing so.
“Whatever message I’m trying to get across I can put on Twitter.”
Zuckerberg uses his Facebook and Instagram accounts for personal use and to share updates on Meta Platforms. Zuckerberg has a Twitter account, but has not posted from the account since 2012.
The New Fight: The item that spurred interest in a cage fight came from social media chatter about the new Meta-owned text-based Twitter competitor. Benzinga previously wrote on celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama being considered to test the rival app known as “Threads.”
The launch of the text-based platform has prompted Musk to call Zuckerberg a “copy cat.”
Also, codenamed “Project 92,” the Twitter competitor would be a standalone app based on Meta Platforms’ Instagram and integrated with the decentralized social media protocol, ActivityPub.
Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. The social media platform competes with Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta Platforms.
The new platform from Meta is reportedly being launched to expand its user base and to challenge Twitter by targeting its core functionalities, often referred to as its "bread and butter."
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