Elon Musk's Messiest Feuds

Serial entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk is not one to shy away from controversy. The notorious SpaceX CEO was born into wealth and has managed it to become the world's richest man. Known for buying Twitter and rebranding the company to simply "X," Musk can be relied upon to make waves in any industry he touches.

The father of a dozen children, Musk has recently begun to dabble in more than just expanding his own family. Currently on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, he was seen literally jumping for joy at the opportunity to stump for the former president. Considering the mercurial nature of the tech billionaire, it might only be a matter of time before Musk and Trump part ways. In fact, it's pretty common for the businessman to pick fights with bold personalities. Here are some of the messiest feuds Elon Musk has engaged in.

Fellow billionaire Mark Cuban was once a person Elon Musk might have considered a friend. However, Cuban was briefly critical of Tesla staying out of the stock market in an interview on CNBC. It was more than just a dunk on the car company — it was also admitting that in the court of public opinion, most people identify the company with its leadership. And Musk is known to be a controversial leader (his decision to buy Twitter caused concern among some).

This remark spurred Musk to direct a series of volatile social media posts and text messages to Cuban. Some even included Musk's personal favorite emoji: A pile of poop. For his part, the "Shark Tank" personality claims none of what he's said should be taken as a personal attack. "I don't dislike Elon, but ... I have no problem calling him out," he said on Theo Von's "This Past Weekend" podcast. "And he's thin-skinned." Overall, Cuban seems to be more entertained by Musk's responses than hurt.

Elon Musk has been in a public feud with the Brazilian Supreme Court that's been simmering for most of 2024. It's a bit complicated, but the case boils down to X's failure to halt the spread of misinformation within the nation. Justice Alexandre de Moraes pointed out that for any company to operate in Brazil, it must have a legal representative permanently based in the country. Musk never complied, so Moraes blocked Starlink from operating any networks within Brazil. Starlink, also owned by Musk, took a financial hit when this happened. According to Reuters, Moraes used this move to cover fines the billionaire was refusing to pay.

The Tesla CEO claimed what Moraes was doing amounted to censorship. Musk refused to name a legal representative in Brazil, claiming they would simply be arrested. Firing back, the judge reminded him that social media in Brazil must follow hate speech regulations, which the businessman was refusing to do. Shutting down X in Brazil iced Musk out of a lucrative market, which is unfortunate as the platform is not making a profit as of this writing. Taking to X, Musk posted "They're shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil." The social media platform got back up and running in the country after the company complied with its laws and paid a $5.1 million fine.

Muslim member of Scottish Parliament Humza Yousaf opened up a can of worms with world's richest man, Elon Musk when a 2020 speech came to light. In the address, Yousaf pointed out the structural racism within the United Kingdom, which triggered Musk's sensibilities. It seems the SpaceX CEO took issue with the politician pointing out all the white members of parliament, leading him to call Yousaf a "blatant racist" in a post on X. As reported by the BBC, the feud was further fueled by a response from a Yousaf spokesperson. "Musk should use his position to tackle racism and hatred that goes unchecked on the social media platform he owns," they said.

Known for often promoting controversial news, Musk was caught sharing a post by Ashlea Simon, co-leader of far-right party Britain First. The fake post suggested detainment camps were being built to house anyone who dared speak out against the U.K. government (via Forbes). It was eventually taken down, but this spurred a new fervor in Musk to blame the former First Minister of Scotland. Once again, he took to X to call Yousaf a "scumbag" who is "obviously super racist against white people."

Two of the wealthiest men in the world, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have long since been nipping at each other's heels. Since 2004, Bezos and Musk have been butting heads and filing lawsuits against each other as the billionaires both race to space. According to People, the feud simmered on the back burner until 2013 when Bezos' company Blue Origin took legal action to try to win a coveted NASA contract. Ultimately, Musk and his company SpaceX won out in the end, but this did trigger a series of back and forth legal actions between the two companies, with SpaceX ultimately winning most of them. This gave Musk the ammunition to post on X: "Turns out Bezos retired in order to pursue a full-time job filing lawsuits against SpaceX."

Besides sparring in court, Musk and Bezos have often been heated with each other in the public eye. Most of it revolves around bickering about rockets, and Bezos has made fun of Musk for wanting to go to Mars. "My friends who want to move to Mars?" Bezos asked in a private lecture (via Business Insider). "I say do me a favor: Go live on the top of Mount Everest for a year first and see if you like it, because it's a garden paradise compared to Mars." This spurred Musk to call Bezos a "copycat" on X. Which is ironic, considering Musk is notorious for borrowing ideas.

When billionaire Mark Zuckerberg launched Threads, a social media competitor to X, Elon Musk seemed to really take it personally. This led to the infamous rumor that almost became a reality — that the two men would fight. "I'm up for a cage match if he is," Musk claimed on X in June 2023. According to The Hill, the Meta CEO shot back with "Send Me Location." This kicked off a series of online spars between the two, but no actual physical fight. According to a post on Threads, Zuckerberg even reached out to UFC president Dana White to help organize the event before pulling out due to Musk's inability to commit.

For his part, Musk wanted to inexplicably fight in Italy, initially wanting to spar in the ancient colosseum of Rome. "Everything done will pay respect to the past and present of Italy," he wrote on X, claiming that all proceeds would go to Italian locals. Neither Musk nor Zuckerberg are Italian. A year later, in July 2024, Musk seemed to revive rumors of a cage match once again while on a trip to Capitol Hill. "I'll fight Zuckerberg any place, any time, any rules," he told a reporter. Zuckerberg shot back with an annoyed response on Threads: "Are we really doing this again?" Here's hoping Musk can continue to keep his feuds online and in courts — not in cage matches.