Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are the two richest people in the world.
They are tech-savvy and entrepreneurs who have both disrupted legacy industries.
Automotive with Tesla (TSLA) for Musk and trade and distribution with Amazon (AMZN) for Bezos. They have not finished transforming the world given the ambitions they continue to nurture. But very often, the two tech tycoons find themselves rivals. They clash on multiple fronts and even over their lifestyle: frugal living for Musk, while Bezos isn't shy about embracing the mundane life of movie stars.
Musk also insisted on pointing this out with a derogatory remark against his rival.
A Fierce Rivalry Between Bezos and Musk
Creating a showdown with The Washington Post, whose owner is Jeff Bezos, Musk did not hesitate to mock his great rival. And these criticisms hit where it can truly hurt: Bezos's lifestyle.
"The Washington Post should change its tagline to 'democracy dies behind our paywall," Musk said he told the newspaper, which requested comment from him about a story about Tesla and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"If you're so concerned about democracy, stop forcing people to pay for (allegedly) important news! Your boss Besos can certainly afford it, even after buying a support yacht for his yacht. - Elon Musk."
What's also noteworthy is that Musk spelled the name Bezos with an S instead of the Z.
Their rivalry escalates when it comes to space, a common passion. They both aspire to make the moon and Mars habitable. But it is this shared will that crystallizes the rivalry between the two tycoons. They have been clashing in court.
Blue Origin, Bezos' space company, and Dynetics of Huntsville, Ala., last year filed a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office after NASA awarded a $2.9 billion lunar landing system contract to SpaceX. That's the rocket and space tech company Musk launched in 2002.
This legal offensive was very badly received by Musk, who did not hesitate to let it be known.
“You cannot sue your way to the moon, no matter how good your lawyers are,” Musk fired back.
Musk and Bezos Agree On an Important Issue
But despite this bickering, the two men seem to have a lot of respect for each other. And a rare thing, they have just agreed and complimented each other on the micro-blogging site Twitter (TWTR), of which Musk recently became the largest shareholder with a stake of more than 9%.
Musk, who has been offered a seat on Twitter's board, promised "significant" changes to help the platform increase its revenue and number of active users. He currently seems to be refining his action plan and carrying out a thorough review of Twitter. He has just launched a survey on the social network in which he asks users whether to transform the headquarters of Twitter based in San Francisco into a shelter for homeless people because these huge offices have been empty since the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Convert Twitter SF HQ to homeless shelter since no one shows up anyway," the billionaire posted on April April 9.
The poll expires on April 10. Nearly 2 million users have already voted, according to the official tally kept on Musk's Twitter page.
The poll caught the attention of Bezos, who suggested to his rival that even turning part of the premises into a homeless shelter would already be a big step.
"Or do portion," Bezos suggested. "Worked out great and makes it easy for employees who want to volunteer," he added, referring to a similar solution Amazon implemented in Seattle.
"Great idea," Musk responded.
The polite exchange between the two billionaires and especially the fact that they agree on an idea launched by one completely surprised Twitter users.
"I support public discussions between billionaire entrepreneurs 👍 super cool," one user commented.
"Elon and Jeff Bezos rn," another user posted.
"👀 God I hope these two billionaires not just taking the piss. Be a great idea for many empty buildings," another user said.
Major cities like New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and others are facing a homelessness crisis as real estate prices there have soared.
In Seattle, Bezos and Amazon built a new homeless shelter attached to one of Amazon’s office buildings, in the heart of the tech giant’s headquarters campus. The shelter, Mary's Place Family Center, opened in 2020. It's an 8-floor, 63,000-square-foot facility with the capacity to serve 200 people per night and more than 1,000 family members per year.
"We’ve opened the largest family homeless shelter in Washington state. It’s housed inside one of Amazon’s buildings at our headquarters here in Seattle," Bezos posted on Instagram on May 21, 2020. "This shelter spans eight floors — including a health clinic and critical tools to help families in need get back on their feet."
Musk has yet to say what he will do if the Yes wins. But homelessness is becoming one of the top issues for many communities in San Francisco.
Musk's fortune is estimated at $260 billion as of April 10, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while Bezos is worth $179 billion.
