Topline
The country’s most powerful man and its wealthiest man exchanged words Friday after President Joe Biden made a dig at Tesla CEO Elon Musk over a widely circulating report he hopes to shed a large portion of his company’s workforce due to concerns about the economy.
President Joe Biden, left, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right, engaged in a spat Friday.
Key Facts
Asked by a reporter about a Reuters report that Musk wants to fire 10% of Tesla’s workforce due to his “super bad feeling” about the economy, Biden pointed to several other American companies adding to their workforces, saying he wishes Musk “lots of luck on his trip to the moon.”
Biden was likely referring to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration selecting the Musk-founded SpaceX to lead the first human expedition to the moon in decades last year.
Replying to a video of Biden’s comments posted on Forbes’ Twitter account, Musk wrote “Thanks Mr. President!” and linked to a NASA article about its partnership with SpaceX.
The tweet is Musk’s first public acknowledgement of the report that caused shares of Tesla to tank, falling more than 8% to $709.75 as of early afternoon trading.
The cheeky response to Biden’s barb is now Musk’s account’s pinned tweet.
Key Background
Biden and Musk have sparred previously. Last year, the president didn’t invite Tesla to a White House event on electric vehicles despite Tesla being the largest electric vehicle manufacturer in the country. Musk has accused Biden of shunning his company numerous times, and has become more vocal recently in expressing disdain for Biden’s Democratic Party. However, Musk, whose bid to buy Twitter remains pending, endorsed the billionaire Democratic Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso in a Friday tweet. Forbes’ estimates Musk is worth $218.1 billion, the largest fortune in the world.
Further Viewing
Further Reading
Elon Musk Reportedly Wants To Lay Off 10% Of Tesla’s Workforce As He Frets About The Economy (Forbes)
Musk Endorses Billionaire Caruso For Los Angeles Mayor (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/06/03/musk-cracks-back-at-biden-for-trip-to-the-moon-dig/