Elon Musk Fires Shot At Mark Zuckerberg, Compares Him To A Monarch

Daniel Mitchell-Benoit
Elon Musk laughing.
Getty | Pool

The recent Elon-Twitter has only been days in the making, but so much has happened that you'd think he's been in a standoff with the social media platform for months.

He's not just twiddling his thumbs as he waits for an answer though, instead doing public interviews in which he not only talks about his visions for the company but also has examples of what he's trying to avoid. Or who he's trying to avoid, rather.

Elon Musk has been a little uppity lately.

Twitter on someone's phone in the foreground and their computer in the background.
Unsplash | Joshua Hoehne

The billionaire CEO has been locked in a heated battle with Twitter, its board, and its shareholders after he put in an offer to buy all of the company's shares for $54.20 a pop, coming out to around $41 billion total.

And that was after his sudden purchase of 9.2% of the company's shares, which turned out not to be enough for him.

He's had some pushback since the offer, with other high-value shareholders not wanting to sell.

Elon Musk with his hands out while speaking.
Getty | JIM WATSON

Musk stated that his wish to buy Twitter was a matter of democracy, believing in its "potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe", something he believes to be "imperative for a functioning democracy."

Since then, he's been very public about the ordeal.

Elon Musk laughing.
Getty | Pool

And he doesn't seem to be too happy that his bid appears to be facing backlash, taking swipes at other social media moguls to compensate.

In an interview at the TED conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, interviewer Chris Anderson asked Musk whether or not his status as a major Twitter influencer and the world's richest man could pose a conflict of interest.

In response, he brought up Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Mark Zuckerberg speaking into a mic.
Getty | Chip Somodevilla

"As for media sort of ownership, I mean, you've got Mark Zuckerberg owning Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp, and with a share ownership structure that will have Mark Zuckerberg the 14th still controlling those entities," Musk said, suggesting Meta will remain under Zuckerberg family rule similar to a monarchy.

This got a laugh out of the crowd.

Mark Zuckerberg.
Getty | SAUL LOEB

"Like, literally," He continued, "We won't have that at Twitter."

He's not completely wrong, though, as Zuckerberg does own 55% of Meta's voting shares, meaning he has total power over all that falls under Meta's umbrella. Meta's stock structure also provides him, and other select executives, with extra-powerful voting capabilities.

As it stands, Musk is still making plans for his Twitter takeover.

A phone with the Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter apps next to each other.
Unsplash | dole777

In the same interview, he discussed what sorts of changes he'd make to the platform were he to purchase it, including making the site's code accessible to the public and lessening permanent bans, opting for timeouts instead.

h/t: Insider