Two of the world’s richest people, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, entered a social media sparring match on Thursday, with Musk accusing the Amazon founder of urging everyone to sell shares of Tesla and SpaceX ahead of the US presidential election 2024. Hours later, Bezos refuted his claims.
On Thursday, Musk alleged that Bezos predicted Republican candidate Donald Trump’s loss in the US election. “Just learned tonight at Mar-a-Lago that Jeff Bezos was telling everyone that @realDonaldTrump would lose for sure, so they should sell all their Tesla and SpaceX stock,” he posted on his social media platform, X. which garnered over 37.8 million views.
To this, Bezos replied, “Nope. 100% not true. Musk was quick to respond, “Well, then, I stand corrected”, and added a laughing emoji. Musk and Bezos are not known to be on great terms with each other, as their rivalry stretches decades. Musk owns SpaceX, which is dominating the rocket launch industry, while Bezos owns Blue Origin, a space tourism and exploration company heavily invested in Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a rival satellite network. Bezos also holds shares in Tesla's rival Rivian Automotive Inc.
The latest social media exchange came as Musk supported Trump during the election, contributing more than $130 million to his campaign. Post-Trump’s victory, Tesla’s shares surged more than 30 per cent since the election. Musk’s net worth reached $340 billion, making richest man in the world. Bezos is second on the list, with a net worth of $226 billion.
Meanwhile, Bezos had congratulated Trump after he was elected President of the US for the second time. "Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @realDonaldTrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love".
