Read about the anticipated cage fight between tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Find out who would win and why they would engage in such a fight. Explore the history of their rivalry and the importance of clout in the tech industry.
The Boys Are Fighting
By “boys,” of course, we mean tech billionaires Elon Musk, who owns Tesla, SpaceX, and most recently Twitter, as well as Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Meta (formerly Facebook), which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp.
Is the Fight Happening?
There’s a question as to whether this match is even going to happen, despite the back-and-forth social media banter between Musk and Zuckerberg, and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White’s assertion that “both guys are absolutely dead serious.” It would be a big spectacle of an MMA fight, but to an extent, Zuckerberg and Musk have already gotten the benefit of publicity by just talking about fighting.
The Beef Between Musk and Zuckerberg
This entire idea might sound like a worrying fever dream, but it is in fact real — and the Musk versus Zuckerberg faceoff has somewhat of a history. What set the stage for their “beef” was a SpaceX rocket carrying a Facebook-owned satellite in 2016. The launch failed, and the satellite — which the company now known as Meta had been planning to use to provide internet service in parts of Africa — was destroyed.
Who Would Win in a Fight?
It’s difficult to predict whether Musk or Zuckerberg would emerge victorious. In Zuckerberg’s case, the closest he’s come is the lowest level of amateur competition in jiu-jitsu, in which he has earned a white belt — the first rank of five in expertise. That might give him a slight edge over Musk, who seemingly has never done anything of the sort. Zuckerberg is also younger by 12 years, suggesting that he might be more agile. But Musk is larger, and that can prove a big advantage in MMA.
Why Would Two Billionaires Fight?
We’re all immersed in the hamster wheel of the attention economy, and the owners of two popular social media platforms know this. Tech billionaires have received the treatment of modern-day gods for decades now; their net worth is determined not just by the technologies they purport to “disrupt” but also how cool, savvy, and genius their audience perceives them to be.
The Importance of Clout
Clout, in other words, is a considerable asset, especially for the CEOs and founders hustling in the mercurial waters of the tech industry. Musk and Zuckerberg know this. When the attention is on them and they go viral, that usually makes them richer and more influential. Dangling an absurd cage match in our faces, they’re asking, “Are you not entertained?”
