Elon Musk Vs. Mark Zuckerberg: The Bizarre Feud, Explained

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have been making passive-aggressive jabs at each other for several years, but the feud between the two tech titans has become increasingly childish, with Musk tweeting “Zuck is a cuck.”

Musk boasts an estimated net worth of $245.6 billion, while Zuckerberg’s net worth is estimated at $108.7 billion; the two billionaires have expressed serious intent to end their feud in a cage match. But how did it come to this?

How did the feud between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg begin?

The feud was sparked in September 2016 after a collaboration between the two billionaires went down in flames, quite literally, as Zuckerberg’s $200 million satellite exploded in a pre-launch test accident on one of Musk’s SpaceX rockets.

After the explosion, Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook that he was “deeply disappointed” that “SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite.”

About a year later, Zuckerberg took a not-so-subtle jab at Musk during a public Facebook Live stream by criticizing “irresponsible” artificial intelligence “naysayers” who “try to drum up these doomsday scenarios.”

Musk famously holds a hyperbolic, bleak view of artificial intelligence and has repeatedly made it clear that he believes the technology “has the potential of civilization destruction.”

Musk responded dismissively to Zuckerberg’s AI commentary on Twitter: “I’ve talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited.”

Musk Deletes Facebook

In 2018, Musk took the feud a step further by mocking Facebook on Twitter.

Musk then joined the #DeleteFacebook movement, a protest prompted by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and deleted the official Facebook pages of SpaceX and Tesla, writing that Tesla’s page “looked lame anyway.”

Minutes later, Musk acknowledged the SpaceX explosion that had destroyed Zuckerberg’s satellite and even admitted fault, but noted that they had given Facebook “a free launch to make up for it.”

Musk never reinstated the deleted Facebook accounts, leaving the Facebook presence of himself and his companies to fan pages and parodies.

On Twitter, Musk still hates Facebook

In 2020, Musk responded to a post from comedian Sacha Baron Cohen which criticized the amount of power and influence wielded by Zuckerberg through Facebook. At this point, Musk was two years away from purchasing Twitter and in his response to the post, he urged the public to delete Facebook because “it’s lame.”

During the January 6th riot of 2021, Musk posted a meme attributing the chaos to Facebook. The meme contains a description of the infamous “QAnon Shaman” and notes Facebook’s origin as “a website to rate women on campus,” a reference to Zuckerberg’s proto-Facebook site, Facemash.

In an ironic twist, Musk would later express support for the “QAnon Shaman” on Twitter.

Mark Zuckerberg compliments Elon Musk

Musk’s chaotic reign as Twitter CEO has sparked scathing criticism, but Zuckerberg has been cautious when addressing the situation.

On June 8, Zuckerberg appeared on AI researcher Lex Fridman’s podcast (who is a friend of Musk), where he was asked what he thought Musk was doing right at Twitter.

After a long pause, Zuckerberg praised Musk’s willingness to fire employees and to make Twitter “leaner,” noting that Musk had emboldened other tech leaders to do the same.

“It was probably good for the industry that he made those changes,” Zuckerberg said.

Musk, however, did not show the same restraint when discussing Zuckerberg.

The Cage Match

Twitter has been bleeding advertisers under Musk’s mercurial management, creating a niche for a potential rival. Upon hearing rumors of Zuckerberg’s Threads, a direct rival to Twitter, Musk tweeted: “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb.”

Responding to a Twitter user who jokingly warned that Zuckerberg knew jiu-jitsu, Musk wrote that he was up for a “cage match.” The tweet seemed like another one of Musk’s goofy jokes, but Zuckerberg appeared to take the challenge seriously and posted a screenshot on Instagram of Musk’s tweet with the caption “send me location.”

Musk responded, “Vegas Octagon,” owned by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Two of the world’s richest and most powerful men brawling in a cage for a braying crowd seems absurd, but it is exactly the kind of ridiculous event that would happen in 2023; hence, the internet exploded in anticipation of the fight.

Few were as excited as UFC president Dana White, whose eyes lit up with dollar signs; White took the time to call Musk and Zuckerberg and claimed that both billionaires were “dead serious” about the fight. On Instagram, White assured UFC fans that Musk vs. Zuckerberg “wasn’t a gimmick fight.”

The totally-not-a-gimmick-fight became a popular topic on Twitter, as commentators seemed to view the brawl as akin to Godzilla vs Kong, or Alien vs. Predator: “Whoever wins, we lose.”

Horror author Stephen King chimed in, prompting a response from Musk.

As usual, King did not respond to Musk.

Musk has been widely disliked across the internet ever since he called a British diver “pedo guy,” and his destructive takeover of Twitter hasn’t rehabilitated his image. But Musk has managed to cultivate a fawning fanbase who earnestly believe him to be an eccentric genius who will lead humanity to the stars.

For example, the tweet below is not satirical; it is a sincere post from one of Musk’s fans.

Zuckerberg, however, has never really had much of a fanbase; memes, pop culture and internet commentary mock his awkward demeanor and jokingly compare him to an AI-generated hologram, or a robot.

However, most seemed to agree that 52-year-old Musk was going to get creamed by 39-year-old Zuckerberg, who has won medals for his skills in jiu-jitsu. Zuckerberg has even completed the “Murph challenge,” which involves running, pull-ups, push-ups and squats while wearing a 20-pound weighted pack.

Musk seems aware that he’s comparatively out of shape, tweeting: “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus’, where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing.” Musk also tweeted: “I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids & throwing them in the air.”

Self-deprecating jokes aside, Musk also tried to present himself as a formidable fighter, recently commenting on a martial arts Twitter thread from 2022 to brag about his fighting experience, making sure to mention “no rules streetfighting.”

Musk also had a sparring session with Lex Fridman, who claimed to be “extremely impressed” with Musk’s “strength, power, and skill.”

Hype around the potential fight unleashed the unique weirdness of Twitter; Elon Musk’s mom, Maye Musk, suggested that the two settle the feud through words rather than violence, declaring that the “funniest person” should win.

Self-help author Jordan Peterson tagged Musk in a tweet asking if the two billionaires would fight naked, for some reason, then suggested that there “should definitely be oil involved.”

The hype faded as the news cycle moved on; Musk biographer Walter Isaacson has expressed doubt that the fight will take place, describing the cage match as a “metaphor for [Musk’s] struggle with Meta and Zuckerberg.”

Threads vs. Twitter

The promised cage match seems unlikely to take place, but the feud between the two billionaires is still simmering on social media, exacerbated by the rise of Zuckerberg’s Threads.

Musk has been responding to posts and memes mocking Zuckerberg with his trademark cry-laughing emoji, and liking tweets that criticize Threads.

For his part, Zuckerberg has taken a few subtle digs at Musk on Threads. After a former Meta engineer posted that the word “Threads” seems censored from Twitter’s Trending tab, Zuckerberg responded with “Concerning” and a cry-laughing emoji, a mocking reference to Musk’s go-to response on Twitter.

A Thread post from fast-food chain Wendys suggesting that Zuckerberg take the feud to space earned another cry-laughing emoji from Zuckerberg.

A screenshot of the interaction prompted Musk to call Zuckerberg a “cuck,” a common insult in right-wing online spaces, referring to a man who allows his wife to have sex with other men.

Musk returned to his “cuck” tweet eight hours later to propose “a literal dick measuring contest.”

Many Twitter users mocked Musk, pointing out that Zuckerberg appears to lead a simple, happily married life, in stark contrast to Musk’s erratic online persona.

Twitter user @HegelwCrmCheese compared Musk’s “cuck” comment to an iconic Robert Crumb comic panel which shows a bitter man seething at the sight of a happy stranger.

The Threads vs. Twitter rivalry might turn into a legal battle, with Musk accusing Threads of copying Twitter and sending a cease-and-desist letter alleging that Meta hired ex-Twitter employees who used proprietary information to design Threads.

We’re all waiting to find out if the two billionaires will settle their differences in the cage, or in the courtroom.