Two of the biggest tech billionaires clashing with their bare hands in front of an excited audience, all broadcast live on the Internet. The wacky scenario of an MMA (mixed martial arts) fight between Mark Zuckerberg, boss of the Meta group, and Elon Musk, owner of X (ex-Twitter), has kept internet users in suspense since the end of June. It seems now definitively buried.
Last Sunday, Mark Zuckerberg calmed things down and urged Internet users not to take what his rival said about this fight seriously. “It’s time to move on,” even wrote the CEO. A message that marks the end of several weeks of unusual exchanges between the two bosses. The latter will have contributed to their publicity, even if it means forgetting the difficulties encountered by their respective social networks.
It all starts at the end of June, when Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, long-time rivals, challenge each other via social networks. The culmination of the exchange, the boss of Tesla posts on his Twitter account the following message: “I’m ready for a fight in the cage”, in reference to the cage in which the confrontations of MMA (mixed martial arts) are held. Neither one nor two, Mark Zuckerberg replied on Instagram: “Send me the address”. “Vegas Octagon” offers Elon Musk in the process, referring to the famous room of the UFC, the main organization of MMA competitions in the United States.
It does not take more to trigger a myriad of reactions on social networks. The “fight of the century” between the two tech moguls becomes a topic of conversation like any other: “Where will this one happen?”, “When?”, “How?”, “Is it really serious?” The articles and tweets are linked and everyone has their opinion on which of the two billionaires is most likely to win the fight. Mark Zuckerberg is the favourite: the boss of Meta is a fan of martial arts, and participates in jiu-jitsu competitions of which he regularly posts videos on his own social networks.
For his part, Elon Musk prides himself on never playing sports, but the man has long had a sense of buzz. To fuel the rumors, he proposes that the event take place at the Colosseum, in Italy and claims to have started training, of which he posts the smallest details on the networks. On the side of France, the Nîmes tourist office offers its own arenas for the fight, in a tweet published on July 1.
In the background of this exchange more than media, a competition which is played on the market of the social networks. Since Elon Musk’s takeover of the social network Twitter in October 2022, for 44 billion dollars, the Meta group has never hidden its intention to take advantage of the difficulties of the platform to launch its own alternative.
Named Threads, this competing application was finally deployed in around 40 countries on July 5 and reached 100 million active users in less than a week, a record. A successful launch that provokes new verbal attacks between the two bosses. Elon Musk notably accuses his competitor of having voluntarily recruited several of his former employees and of stealing his trade secrets to develop Threads. Quickly, however, Zuckerberg’s competing platform saw its number of daily visitors plummet.
On August 6, Elon Musk communicates again about the fight. “The first episode will be broadcast on X”, assures the billionaire in a message posted on the social network, specifying that “all the proceeds will be donated to organizations helping veterans”.
A way, it seems, to divert attention from the criticism that rains down on the new changes on the social network. Shortly before, the billionaire renamed the platform “X”, with the aim of turning the page on the Twitter brand for good. At the same time, the platform is cut off from many services to convince its users to subscribe to the Blue paid service, billed at just under $10 per month and which allows them to obtain the certification check mark but also to access TweetDeck. , or to be able to exchange without restrictions between users.
But the varnish is starting to crack. On Threads, Mark Zuckerberg says he no longer really believes that the confrontation will take place. If he proposed the August 26 date for the fight, Elon Musk would not have followed through. Another factor of doubt: the latter claims on August 7 on X that he must “get an MRI of his neck and back” and that surgery may be necessary.
On August 11, the boss of Tesla revives speculation: the Italian government has given its agreement for the match to take place in an “epic place”. “Everything in the field of the camera will be like in the time of ancient Rome, so nothing modern”, announced Elon Musk on August 11, who specified that the fight will be broadcast jointly on X and the social networks of the Meta group.
The Italian Minister of Culture confirms, in a press release, to discuss with the billionaire to organize “a great charity event evoking the history” of the country. The amount that could be raised, estimated at “several million euros, will be donated to two Italian children’s hospitals”, he adds.
Yet on the same day, Mark Zuckerberg reveals on Threads that no date has yet been set for the fight. “If Elon ever ends up agreeing to something, you’ll find out from me. Until then, please assume that nothing he says has been approved” on the Meta side.
Sunday August 13, the boss of Meta seems to want to put a definitive end to speculation. “We can all agree that Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on,” he wrote on Threads. “Elon won’t confirm a date, says he needs surgery, and now he’s offering me a training session in my garden (…) I prefer to focus on competitions with people who take this sport seriously.
“Zuck is a wimp,” retorted the main interested party before recounting this Tuesday, in a new tweet on X, how he would have liked to go to Mark Zuckerberg’s home on Monday evening to challenge him directly at home but that “tragically, he was on the move.” As noted by the Platformer media, Elon Musk has been in Cleveland (Ohio) since Monday, 3,500 kilometers from Silicon Valley.
Are these posts meant to distract from the bad news piling up for X? This same weekend, data relayed by the Mashable website show that the social network is struggling to garner paying subscribers. Despite the announcement of advertising revenue sharing for subscribers, the service would have gained only 94,000 new customers between July 1 and August 10.
Another revelation of the weekend, the Washington Post revealed how X greatly slowed down access to links pointing to its competitors such as YouTube, Instagram or even…Threads. What Elon Musk has not yet reacted to.
