Topline
The will-they-or-won’t-they drama of a cage match between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg continued Monday — a day after Zuckerberg publicly said it was time to “move on” — when Musk Tweeted that he was going to have a car take him to the Meta CEO’s house and livestream the journey to see if Zuckerberg would fight him, a stunt that Zuckerberg’s reps quickly shot down.
This combo of file images shows Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon … [+] Musk. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, Stephan Savoia, File)
Key Facts
On Monday Musk posted a message to X (formerly Twitter), saying he would ask the car to drive to @finkd’s (Zuckerberg) house,” adding that he would test X’s new livestream feature while doing so.
“If we get lucky and Zuck my 👅 actually answers the door, the fight is on!” he wrote.
A spokesperson for Zuckerberg told Forbes, “Mark is traveling right now and isn’t in Palo Alto,” adding, “Mark takes this sport seriously and isn’t going to fight someone who randomly shows up at his house.”’
Musk’s latest chatter on the subject comes a day after Zuckerberg wrote a post on his rival app, Threads, saying, “Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on,” after Musk said he would need surgery and recovery time before he would be ready for a fight.
Days earlier, Musk had touted he had secured an “epic location” in Italy for the fight, which Zuckerberg denied.
Key Background
The two billionaire social media magnates have been trading barbs about a fight for over two months now. The idea first emerged in June when Musk replied to a thread on X about Zuckerberg, saying, “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.” The following day, Zuckerberg — who practices jiu jitsu as a hobby — responded on Instagram with a screenshot of Musk’s tweet captioned “send me location.” The president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White, told the New York Times he would help organize an exhibition match with a charity fundraising component between the two and said that he’s spoken to both and they both wanted to fight. Zuckerberg, who is a hobbyist jiu jitsu fighter, reinvigorated the hype around the event when he was photographed during a July 11 training session with UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. Musk, on the other hand, said the fight was still “in flux” because he needs surgery, but proposed an alternative format for the fight: “an epic location” in Italy with an “Ancient Rome”-themed event, not managed by the UFC. Zuckerberg shot down these plans in a Threads post Sunday in which he said these terms hadn’t been agreed upon, adding “Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on.” Zuckerberg said he offered a real date, to which Musk won’t confirm and that White and the UFC offered to make this “a legit competition for charity.” He also revealed that Musk asked to do a practice round in Zuckerberg’s backyard, something he is not interested in. “If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I’m going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously.”
Tangent
The bizarre feud is unfolding against the backdrop of the two billionaires’ competing social media platforms. Musk purchased Twitter in October before making a series of unpopular decisions, including renaming it X. Under Musk’s leadership, the company fell in value from $44 billion when he bought it to $15 billion in May, according to Fidelity. In July, Zuckerberg’s Meta launched competitor Threads, an explicit attempt to take over the market long enjoyed by Twitter. The company reported it had hit 100 million sign-ups within a week after it launched, but actual usage of the platform has since plummeted nearly 70% from its peak.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Musk’s net worth to be $223.4 billion, making him the wealthiest person on Earth. We estimate Zuckerberg is the world’s eighth-richest person, with $108.5 billion.
Further Reading
Zuckerberg Vs Musk: Disputes Heat Up Over Billionaire Cage Fight—Here’s Everything We Know (Forbes)
Musk Hits Below The Belt With Latest Zuckerberg Attacks: ‘Zuck Is A Cuck’ (Forbes)
Twitter Threatens Lawsuit Against Meta Over ‘Copycat’ Threads App (Forbes)
Threads’ User Engagement Plummets After Explosive Start (Forbes)
