Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, two of the world’s most prominent tech billionaires, have consented to engage in a cage match.
Via his Twitter account, Mr. Musk declared his readiness for a “cage fight” with Mr. Zuckerberg.
Mr. Zuckerberg, the leader of Facebook and Instagram’s parent organization, Meta, responded by posting a screenshot of Mr. Musk’s tweet with the caption “send me location”.
A representative from Meta stated to the BBC that “the story speaks for itself”.
To this, Mr. Musk reacted with the comment: “Vegas Octagon.”
The Octagon refers to the battle mat and enclosed area utilized for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) matches, which is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mr. Musk, who will be turning 52 later this month, also tweeted: “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus’, where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing.”
He subsequently tweeted video clips of walruses, potentially indicating that his challenge to Mr. Zuckerberg may not be completely serious.
Further, he expressed, “I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids & throwing them in the air.”
On the other hand, Mr. Zuckerberg, who is 39, has started his mixed martial arts (MMA) training and has triumphed in recent jiu-jitsu tournaments.
The exchanges have become a trending topic on social media, with users discussing who might win the fight and others posting memes, including mocking posters advertising the match.
For instance, business advisor Seyi Taylor tweeted, “Choose your fighter” with images of the two tech bosses.
Broadcast journalist and fight sports enthusiast Nick Peet stated that UFC president Dana White would be “licking his lips at the possibility of putting this fight on”.
He suggested the match could realistically occur, “mostly because of Elon Musk and his personality and his eccentric character. His career kind of suggests he’s not somebody who willingly steps down.”
However, when asked who he believed would triumph, he said, “Zuckerberg all day! He’s 12 years younger. He is a lot smaller. I think he’s 5ft 7, Elon’s probably around 6ft. And Elon’s probably got a couple of stone in weight on him.”
“But unfortunately Mr Musk has got no training whatsoever. Even though Zuckerberg’s only been training Brazilian jiu-jitsu for 18 months, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to take his back, wrap his arms around his neck and give him a good old cuddle and choke him out!”
Musk is known for making declarations that are often not serious or which do not come to fruition.
For example, he informed the BBC in April that he appointed his dog as Twitter’s CEO.
In 2017, he posted that he had “verbal government approval” to build a hyperloop – a type of rapid transit system – connecting New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, but this plan hasn’t been realized yet.
In 2018, after tweeting about his intentions to privatize the company, he was compelled to resign as Tesla’s chairman by regulatory bodies.
However, Mr. Musk has also followed through on some of his declarations, like when he stepped down as Twitter CEO this year following a user poll in favour of his resignation.
However, in November 2022, he had already expressed his desire to step down as the chief executive.
