People: Zuckerberg on Musk fight: “Elon doesn’t mean it”

2023-08-14 01:39:45

People Zuckerberg on Musk fight: ‘Elon doesn’t mean it’

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has lost patience over the potential cage fight with Elon Musk. photo

© Susan Walsh/Francois Mori/AP/dpa

In June, Elon Musk challenged the Facebook founder to a cage fight. So far, however, the two entrepreneurs have only been wrangling for an appointment. Now Zuckerberg has had enough.

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 the Threads online service. It’s time to focus on other things.

Scramble for an appointment

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 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 he also suggested that the actual fight be held in Zuckerberg’s garden.

Fight in Italy?

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.

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.

dpa