Tech billionaires’ cage fight
Zuckerberg no longer believes in Musk fight: “Elon doesn’t mean it”
At the moment it looks like the “sporting event of the year” will fall through.
© Mandel Ngan and Alain Jocard / AFP
Much ado about nothing. Elon Musk challenged Mark Zuckerberg to a cage fight. But the big words were not followed by a specific date. Now Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is losing patience: Musk is not serious, he wrote.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has patience with the lurching course of Elon Musk lost over potential cage fight between two tech billionaires The final straw came when Musk proposed a practice session at Zuckerberg’s home in Palo Alto. “I think we can all agree that Elon is not serious,” Zuckerberg wrote on Sunday on the Threads online service. It’s time to focus on other things.
Zuckerberg emphasized that he had suggested a specific date for Musk. And the head of the martial arts organization UFC, Dana White, offered to organize an official match. “Elon does not confirm the appointment, then says he needs an operation and now instead suggests a training session in my garden,” he criticized. If Musk ever wants to get serious about a specific date and official event, “he knows how to reach me,” added Zuckerberg. Until then, he will compete with people “who take the sport seriously”.
Musk calls Zuckerberg a “coward”
Musk then claimed on his online platform X (formerly Twitter) that Zuckerberg was a “coward”. In a screenshot from a chat exchange between the two tech billionaires, Musk gave the impression that after the training offer, Musk also suggested that the actual fight be held in Zuckerberg’s garden on Monday.
Zuckerberg, 39, trains with martial arts experts and is visibly fitter than Musk, 52. The prospect of the fight first surfaced in June. It was Musk who challenged Zuckerberg, who immediately agreed. After that, the Facebook founder repeatedly emphasized that he was already ready for a fight, but Musk had not agreed to any proposed date.
Musk: Right shoulder blade problems
Tesla CEO Musk, meanwhile, wrote on Friday that he needed surgery for a problem with his right shoulder blade, from which he would need several months to recover. At the same time he claimed that the fight should take place against a historical backdrop in Italy. He spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano and they promised an “epic place”. It will not be Rome, Sangiuliano clarified shortly afterwards.