Table of Contents
Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg
In June 2023, X owner Elon Musk tweeted that he is up for a cage match against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, after news that Meta was launching a social media application that would rival Twitter.
After the launch of Threads, Twitter sent a cease-and-desist letter to Zuckerberg, accusing Meta of unlawfully using Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.
I’m up for a cage match if he is lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023
Soon after, Zuck implied he was also up for a fight by responding “Send me location” on his Instagram story. What followed was a constant back-and-forth between the two.
Weeks after the initial jab, Elon claimed there was a chance the fight would take place in the Colosseum in Rome. He further implied that he’d spoken to Italian officials about hosting the fight at the historic venue. Italy’s Ministry of Culture refuted Elon’s claims.
Some chance fight happens in Colosseum
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2023
To add fuel to the fire, the two continued to take jabs at each other. This time by posting pictures and videos of themselves training with professional fighters.
After these pictures were posted, things went quiet on the Zuck vs. Musk front. Until, August 6 when Musk tweeted:
Am lifting weights throughout the day, preparing for the fight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2023
Don’t have time to work out, so I just bring them to work.
Elon announced soon after that the fight will be live-streamed on X and all proceeds will be donated to charity. He also suggested that everything is now properly arranged.
The fight will be managed by my and Zuck’s foundations (not UFC).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2023
Livestream will be on this platform and Meta. Everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all.
I spoke to the PM of Italy and Minister of Culture. They have agreed on an epic location.
However, Mark Zuckerberg quickly took to Threads and denied any and all of Musk’s various implications.
Post by @zuckView on Threads
Zuckerberg says “It’s time to move on”
Since then, Elon has announced that he’ll likely need shoulder surgery before the fight, which will require months of recovery. This implies that Musk’s multiple public statements about a potential fight may have just been a way to generate more attention for his growing social media platform.
To refute these rumors, Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a fight in his backyard octagon. In response, Mark Zuckerberg said it was time to move on from the fight, stating that Elon is not serious.
Post by @zuckView on Threads
Elon then stated he would go to Mark Zuckerberg’s house and fight him anyway, and called Zuckerberg a “chicken” on Twitter.
Zuck is a chicken
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2023
The Threads application, as of August 2023, has a user base of around 50 million active users. Mark Zuckerberg has also announced more features will drop on the application soon, which is expected to bring up numbers.
Read more: Threads app to release new features soon 2023
Since being rebranded as X, Twitter has maintained its 450 million monthly active users, which is a steady increase since December 2022. The rumors around the fight have sparked more in-app engagement for Musk.
Do you think the fight will go on? Let us know in the poll below!
Stay updated on all of the latest news by subscribing to the ITP Live newsletter below and by clicking the push notifications.