Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, vehemently responded to advertisers who halted spending on the platform due to his support for an antisemitic post, saying, “Go f— yourself.” Musk expressed concerns that this advertiser boycott could lead to the demise of the platform, emphasizing, “What it’s going to do is it’s going to kill the company, and the whole world will know the advertisers killed the company.”
Acknowledging the gravity of the antisemitic post, Musk admitted, “The post was the worst and dumbest I’ve ever done.” Despite this, he shifted responsibility to the advertisers, stating, “if advertisers leave the company, its failure will be their fault,” accusing them of attempting to “blackmail me with money.”
During the New York Times DealBook conference, Musk called out to “Bob,” referring to Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney, who spoke at the event earlier in the day. Musk offered a rare apology for his choice of words since the post triggered a global backlash. He clarified that his recent trip to Israel wasn’t an “apology tour,” emphasizing that it was planned before the advertiser backlash.
Musk urged people to judge him by his actions, highlighting the success of his companies. He stated, “Hate me, like me or indifferent. Do you want the best car, or do you not want the best car?” Musk defended his political clout, attributing it to successful execution rather than anticompetitive actions.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the Biden administration, Musk revealed he couldn’t see himself voting for President Joe Biden in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. He cited Biden’s snub of Tesla at a 2021 electric vehicle summit, leaving Musk and Tesla out, as a sore point. Since then, Musk has seemingly leaned towards the Republican party, participating in a fundraiser for Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and hosting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on X as he announced his 2024 presidential campaign.
Musk also voiced opposition to the upswell of union activity at carmakers, disagreeing with the idea of unions. He noted that if the UAW’s unionization drive at Tesla proves successful, it’s because Tesla failed to provide a satisfactory working environment.
Addressing the situation at Open AI, where Musk cofounded the company, he expressed mixed feelings about CEO Sam Altman, who was recently ousted and reinstated. Musk suggested the potential dangers of AI and emphasized the public’s need to know the reason behind Altman’s firing. Musk revealed plans to build a rival called xAI, utilizing data from X, the social network he owns.
