10 of Elon Musk's public feuds: From AOC to Jeff Bezos

Elon Musk has become a polarizing figure in technology and science.

At 51 years old, Musk isthe world's richest man, and while he's had some help from friends and family along the way, he's also made enemies.

Like any successful businessman, Musk has brought with him some controversy - whether that's from fighting with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos over a rocket launchpad, or exchanging sarcastic messages with Sarah Palin.

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Not one for holding his tongue, Musk will often reply to criticism with a meme or jokes, sometimes finding himself in public spats.

Here are just some of the public feuds Musk has been involved in.

Jeff Bezos

One of Musk’s most notorious rivals is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. In 2013, the two got into a heated back-and-forth over the leasing rights to NASA’s launchpad.

Bezos, who started BlueOrigin in 2000, wanted to turn it into a commercial spaceport for all launch companies including his own and United Launch Alliance. But Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002, wanted exclusive rights.

Musk called the two companies' idea a “phony blocking tactic” and accused BlueOrigin of not “creating a reliable suborbital spacecraft.”

“Frankly, I think we are more likely to discover unicorns dancing in the flame duct.” Musk said.

The two have gotten into public spats on Twitter since then as well.

Mark Zuckerberg

The feud between the two billionaires started in 2016 after a SpaceX test went haywire and destroyed a Facebook satellite.

Then in 2017, the two got into a disagreement about AI with Musk calling Zuckerberg’s understanding of AI “limited.”

Since 2018, Musk has openly expressed his discontent with Facebook saying it “gives me the willies” and campaigning for others to “delete Facebook.”

Bill Gates

Earlier this year, Musk accused Gates of not taking climate change seriously by shorting Tesla’s stock.

In return, Gates claimed he has “given a lot more money to climate change than Elon or anyone else…” then added, “but somebody shorting the stock doesn't slow him down or hurt him in any way."

Musk responded to the clip on Twitter with a “sigh”.

Democrats

Musk started a feud with Democrats this year after declaring he was going to vote Republican believing the Democratic Party to be one of “division & hate”

Then during the November midterms, Musk implored people to vote for the Republican Congress via Twitter.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

In April the New York Representative tweeted criticizing a “billionaire with an ego problem” for inciting hate crimes by “controlling a massive communication platform”.

Although she never specified who she was speaking about, Musk responded, “Stop hitting on me, I’m really shy."

Sarah Palin

In 2013, the former Alaska Governor insulted Tesla by calling the company one of the “losers” of the automobile industry.

Musk sarcastically responded he was “deeply wounded” by her words.

Ed Markey

After finding himself in hot water after the launch of Twitter Blue verification, Musk engaged in a back-and-forth with Connecticut Senator Markey.

When Markey expressed concern and questions over impersonation accounts, Musk simply responded by mocking Markey, "Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody?"

In return, the Senator reminded Musk that his companies are monitored by the government and said, "fix your companies. or Congress will."

Donald Trump

Trump is not a fan of Musk, especially after Musk voiced his support for potential presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.candidate Ron DeSantis.

The former president has called the Twitter owner a "bulls*** artist", referred to Tesla as "driverless cars that crash", and SpaceX as "rocketships to nowhere."

On Truth Social, Trump bragged that Musk was a "big Trump fan" and the former president "could have said 'drop to your knees and beg' and he would have done it."

For Musk, he says that he doesn't hate Trump but believes it's time for him to "hang up his hat and sail into the sunset."

Martin Eberhard

Musk openly called Eberhard, the co-founder of Tesla, "the worst person I've ever worked with in my entire career" after disputing the origin story of Tesla on Twitter.

Once the CEO of Tesla, Eberhard transitioned to a role on the advisory board in 2007.

Musk claimed he made bad management decisions and accused him of deception.

"I wish I had never met him," Musk said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Whenever Tesla models need recalls or safety warnings, it's usually because the NHTSA has found an issue and while some are warranted, Musk has likened the government agency to the "fun police."

Earlier this year, Tesla announced it would remove its BoomBox feature after the NHTSA said it could make the vehicle’s mandatory pedestrian alert sounds inaudible.

He also criticized the agency for calling Tesla's over-the-air software updates as "recalls" making them sound more dire than they are.

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