In the latest in a long line of traditional criticisms of tech billionaires, the ever-predictable Elon Musk has fired a volley of bullets, aimed squarely at Bill Gates. Yes, the self-proclaimed ‘techoпoпg’ who wants to colonize Mars and the ‘Not-a-Flamethrower’ in between, has taken aim at Gates. The accusation? “Bill Gates is evil, and we want to expose him quickly.” We’ll pause to see if that’s true.
Picture this: Musk, sitting comfortably in his Tesla, casually scrolling through his phone, tweeting this in the same tone he would when ordering his favorite Veiti, Half-Whole Milk, One-Quarter 1%, One-Quarter Non-Fat, Extra Hot, Split-Quad Shots (1 1/2 decaf, 2 1/2 regular), No Foam Latte, With Whip, 2 packets of Spleada, 1 Sugar in Raw, a drizzle of vanilla syrup, and 3 drizzles of syrup.
The tweet was met with a mix of shock, near-identity, and “here we go again” sighs from the tech community. After all, this wasn’t the first time Musk had made snide remarks. He has previously suggested we should make Mars habitable, called a heroic cave diver a “pedophile,” and even smoked marijuana on a podcast. Against this backdrop, his claims about Gates’ supposed villainy seem like the stuff of crassness.
However, the claim that Gates is evil and will soon be “exposed” has left people puzzled. Is this another one of Musk’s famous antics, like selling “Teslaqᴜila”? Or is there more to this bizarre claim than meets the eye?
For Internet conspiracy theorists, the tweet was practically prophetic gold. Forums exploded with speculation, from Gates’s alleged plan to insert microchips into everyone to him being the mastermind behind a global pandemic. According to these theorists, Musk’s announcement is the validation they’ve been waiting for.
More sober observers are approaching the situation with a healthy dose of skepticism. “This looks like another Musk delay,” one tech analyst opined. “Remember when he said he was selling all his assets and would pay a hefty price for his house?”
Meanwhile, the Gates camp has remained remarkably quiet on the matter. Perhaps they’re taking an ‘ignore it, it will go away’ approach. Or maybe they’re just too busy with the current global crises to pay attention to the mega-billionaire’s tweet.
The media, however, is having a field day. Between the pundits, the editorials, the memes, Musk’s tweet has proven to be a farce of greed. It’s almost as if Musk has deliberately kept the ews cycle alive in the midst of a global pandemic and an economic downturn.
But, let’s take a step back and consider the situation. Could there be any truth to Musk’s claim? Is Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill Gates Foundation Melinda Gates Foundation, hiding a secret between the two of them? Or is this just another Musk-ian strategy to distract people from the latest SpaceX explosion?
We can’t be sure. But until Musk delivers on his promise to ‘expose’ Gates, all we can do is speculate and keep an eye on Twitter for the next episode of this high-stakes tech drama. Who knows? Maybe Musk will say he’s discovered the secret to eternal life. Or maybe he’s finally discovered Bigfoot. With Musk, it seems, anyпythingпg is possible.
