Elon Musk, the billionaire proprietor of X, says the advertisers which have stopped spending on the platform on account of his endorsement of an antisemitic publish can “f——” themselves.
“What it’s going to do is it’s going to kill the corporate, and the entire world will know the advertisers killed the corporate,” Musk mentioned on the New York Instances DealBook convention on Wednesday. “Go f—- your self.”
The publish was the “worst and dumbest I’ve ever completed,” mentioned Musk, the chief government officer of Tesla Inc.
Nonetheless, if advertisers depart the corporate, its failure will likely be their fault, not his — saying they have been attempting to “blackmail me with cash,” he mentioned. “I received’t faucet dance” to show reliable, he mentioned.
Musk took the stage on the DealBook convention following a tumultuous few weeks for the world’s richest particular person, with a web value of round $226 billion.
Earlier this month, Musk agreed with a publish that mentioned Jewish folks maintain a “dialectical hatred” of white folks. That message has since drawn criticism from the White Home in addition to a number of Tesla traders. Main company spenders, together with Walt Disney Co. and Apple Inc., distanced themselves from the platform previously often known as Twitter.
From the DealBook stage, Musk known as out to “Bob” particularly, referring to Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney. Iger spoke on the occasion earlier within the day.
For the primary time because the publish spurred a worldwide backlash, Musk apologized for his alternative of phrases. Musk, who flew to Israel to tour areas that have been impacted by the Oct. 7 Hamas assault alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mentioned the journey was deliberate earlier than the advertiser backlash. It wasn’t an “apology tour,” he mentioned. Following his go to, he appeared on stage carrying a canine tag, which has grow to be symbolic of a name for the return of hostages captured by Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and E.U.
Musk urged folks to evaluate him by his actions relatively than his phrases and introduced up two corporations he runs as justification. Tesla, he mentioned, made extra electrical automobiles than opponents. SpaceX, formally named Area Exploration Applied sciences Corp., sends extra satellites into area than some other firm or nation.
“Hate me, like me or detached. Would you like the very best automotive, or do you not need the very best automotive?” he mentioned. He mentioned he’s completed “extra for the atmosphere than any human.”
Political clout
Musk additionally addressed the inordinate quantity of energy that he wields given his market energy in key industries corresponding to automobiles, area, satellites and social media. The billionaire holds the keys to technological instruments that present him with political clout that world leaders have come to depend on.
“The explanation I’ve these powers isn’t due to anticompetitive actions however as a result of we’ve executed properly,” he mentioned.
Musk, who had been near President Barack Obama, has had a contentious relationship with the Biden administration and mentioned on Wednesday that he couldn’t see himself voting for President Joe Biden within the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
He cited the president’s snub of Tesla, a reference to a 2021 electrical car summit the place Biden invited legacy Detroit automakers to the White Home garden however unnoticed Musk and Tesla. The comb off of the Musk-led automaker, which has 140,000 workers globally and is the world’s main EV producer, has remained a sore level for the billionaire.
Since then, Musk has gave the impression to be leaning nearer to the Republican get together. In October, he appeared at a fundraiser for Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and in Could Musk hosted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on X as he introduced his 2024 presidential marketing campaign.
Musk additionally bristled on the upswell of union exercise at carmakers, which inked a report contract with the United Auto Staff union earlier this yr after Biden confirmed up on the picket line to assist unionized workers. Now, the UAW goes after Tesla.
“I disagree with the concept of unions,” Musk mentioned, noting that if the UAW’s unionization drive proves profitable it’s as a result of Tesla failed to supply a adequate working atmosphere. If the EV maker’s crops are unionized, it’s as a result of “we deserve it,” he mentioned.
The billionaire additionally addressed the debacle at Open AI, the maker of ChatGPT that Musk cofounded however later stepped down from. “I’ve combined emotions about Sam,” Musk mentioned about CEO Sam Altman, who was just lately ousted and reinstated. “The ring of energy can corrupt.”
He mentioned the general public ought to know the explanation Altman was fired, in case it has to do with some risks of AI. “I don’t assume it was trivial.”
Musk is constructing a rival, known as xAI, utilizing the info from X, the social community.