Elon Musk is described by Wikipedia as a 'technology entrepreneur, investor and engineer'. However, the online encyclopedia seems to be missing a beat in recognising the Tesla CEO as a 'rap superstar' alongside the aforementioned. That's right. Musk surprised all of its Twitter followers this weekend by dropping what can only be described as an auto-tuned, rap masterpiece.
The song "RIP Harambe" first landed on Musk's SoundCloud and the SpaceX boss said, “This might be my finest work”. The track, which is two minutes long, is a tribute to the deceased gorilla Harabme, whose death in the Cincinnati Zoo in 2016 caused shock and sadness across the world.
Lyrics include lines such as “RIP Harambe/Sipping on some Bombay/We on our way to heaven/Amen, Amen,” and “RIP Harambe/Smoking on some strong/In the gorilla zoo/And we thinking about you.”
Elon Musk has apparently named his Twitter successor - and it's not who you'd expect.
The Tesla boss recently sealed the deal to purchase the social media platform for an eye-watering $44 billion. As the world's richest man with an estimated $255.1 billion to his name, per Forbes, it's always been worth considering who the SpaceX Founder will leave things to when he dies.
But now that he also owns one of the biggest social media platforms in the world, the question of who will be Musk's successor has only become more interesting.
Much to everyone's surprise, the billionaire seems to have joked that none other than YouTuber MrBeast to take over Twitter in the event of his sudden death. (Then again, this is Musk, so who's to say if he is joking.)
Fittingly, the unexpected arrangement between Musk and MrBest - whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson - was made over a series of tweets.
It all started when Musk made a cryptic post about his potential death, writing: "If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya."
MrBeast - who is best known for recreating expensive stunts and hosting big-budget competitions on his YouTube channel - saw Musk's ominous tweet as an opportunity to request a favor.
He retweeted Musk's original post, asking: "If that happens can I have Twitter."
Much to everyone's surprise, the Tesla CEO responded simply: "Ok".
MrBeast - real name Jimmy Donaldson - was clearly very pleased with Musk's response, not to mention eager to make sure the deal would stand in the unlikely event that Musk did suddenly drop dead. He quickly screenshotted their agreement and retweeted it with the caption: "No takesies backsies".
While he may not be in the same league as Musk, MrBeast does have some entrepreneurial credits to his name. In January 2022, Forbes ranked him as YouTube's highest earner of the previous year, when he made an estimated $54 million.
MrBeast (right) at the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards in April 2022. Credit: MediaPunch Inc / Alamy
Among his most watched videos is a recreation of the popular Netflix show Squid Game, in which he gave players a chance to win a huge cash prize without the lethal stakes of the smash-hit TV show.
Elon Musk has responded to Elton John after the icon declared that he was leaving Twitter due to misinformation.
Another day passes, and Musk, 51, finds himself having to defend his acquisition of the social media platform again. He took control of the company in October for $44 billion.
The business magnate has also restored previously banned accounts such as Kanye West (who was removed again for anti-Semitic content) and former President Donald Trump.
Credit: Apex MediaWire / Alamy
Since Musk's takeover, some celebrities have publicly announced their departure from the social media site, such as Jim Carrey and WWE star Mick Foley.
Elton John has become the latest star to leave the platform, as he reveals that "misinformation" is the reason for his departure.
He tweeted: "All my life I’ve tried to use music to bring people together. Yet it saddens me to see how misinformation is now being used to divide our world.
"I’ve decided to no longer use Twitter, given their recent change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked."
Musk responded to the tweet: "I love your music. Hope you come back. Is there any misinformation in particular that you’re concerned about?"
The iconic musician didn't confirm what misinformation he was referring to but his announcement comes weeks after Twitter announced it would no longer be enforcing the "Covid-19 misleading information policy," as reported by Deadline.
These guidelines were put in place in early 2020 as rumors and unfounded claims circulated about Covid-19 and the vaccination that was to follow.
Elton John has long campaigned against hate speech. Credit: S.A.M. / Alamy
This included accounts being suspended and those who were deemed to be spreading misinformation would have their tweets labeled as such.
Musk - self-dubbed "Chief Twit" - has taken a relaxed approach to the platform, as he often claims that he is on the side of free speech, which he says the previous Twitter bosses were not.
The 'Rocket Man' singer has often been outspoken in his opposition to hate speech and campaigns to end the AIDs epidemic through the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Elon Musk's daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, has shared an iconic response after her dad deadnamed her and claimed she was "dead".
Musk often lashes out at the trans community.Credit: Marc Piasecki / Getty
Wilson, 20 - who legally changed her name and gender in 2022 - is one of the billionaire’s children from his first marriage to Justine Wilson.
At the time of her transition, she made her stance crystal clear, stating she didn’t want to be "related to [her] biological father in any way, shape or form".
Still, Musk has repeatedly referenced his estranged daughter on social media, most recently in response to a post on X (formerly Twitter) defending him against Wilson’s remarks in a Teen Vogue interview.
In the interview, she addressed Musk being accused of giving a Nazi salute at a Trump rally, calling the news coverage "insane".
“I’ll see things about [Musk] in the news,” she told Teen Vogue, “and I think it’s f**king cringe. I should probably post about this and denounce it.”
A user later responded to a headline that read: “Elon Musk’s daughter says father's rally gesture was 'definitely a Nazi salute',” questioning whether Musk had ever killed anyone and arguing that “just because Wilson says something, that doesn't necessarily make it true.”
Musk replied: “Exactly,” before deadnaming Wilson and repeating his earlier claim that she had been "killed by the woke mind virus".
Initially, Wilson took to Threads to describe Musk’s comment as “gross” and wrote she’d “deal with this nonsense in a bit.”
And deal with it she did.
On TikTok, she posted a screenshot of Musk’s tweet followed by a clip of herself lip-syncing to a song with the lyrics: “I look pretty good for a dead b***h.” The caption? “And you don’t.”
The internet responded with a flood of support. One TikTok user wrote: “SHES AN ICON AND IM TOTALLY HERR FOR IT.”
Another commented: “You’re a legend,” and a third simply said: “Vivian you are so cool.”
But this isn’t the only headline-grabbing statement from Wilson.
She recently posted on Threads accusing Musk of deliberately selecting her embryo’s sex through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to ensure she was born male.
“My assigned sex at birth was a commodity that was bought and paid for,” she wrote. “So when I was feminine as a child and then turned out to be transgender, I was going against the product that was sold.”
Musk is no stranger to hitting out at his daughter online. Credit: Craig T Fruchtman/Getty
She went on to claim: “That expectation of masculinity that I had to rebel against all my life was a monetary transaction. A monetary transaction. A MONETARY TRANSACTION.”
While it’s true that Musk had his first five children through IVF—all of whom were assigned male at birth—there’s no direct evidence confirming he specifically chose the embryos' sex. Nonetheless, Wilson’s allegations triggered waves of public reaction.
One user commented: “You’re saying that he sex-selected your embryo to be male and then felt he didn’t get what he paid for? His loss, the world’s win. You’re a gem. Your bio dad doesn’t deserve you.”
Elon Musk has responded after Kanye West declared him to be a "half Chinese genetic hybrid" in his latest social media tirade.
West, 45, has been making headlines for many reasons lately, most recently for being banned from Twitter again after violating the rule against incitement to violence.
Twitter was purchased by Musk, 51, for $44 billion, and he quickly restored several accounts that had previously been banned, including West's.
The rapper was banned previously for tweeting antisemitic content, where he stated he was going to go "death con 3" on Jewish people.
Musk gave the Grammy winner a second chance. Still, after making a number of antisemitic comments on interview shows, and tweeting an image of a swastika superimposed over the Star of David, he was removed again.
Now, the rapper has taken to Instagram to post a bizarre claim that he believes Musk could be a half-Chinese "genetic hybrid".
The post on West's (@kanyewest) Instagram page. Credit: Instagram
In the post, he states: "Am I the only one who thinks Elon could be half-Chinese? Have you ever seen his pics as a child? Take a Chinese genius and mate them a with South African supermodel and we have an Elon."
"I say an Elon because they probably made 10 to 30 Elons and he is the first genetic hybrid that stuck... Well let's not forget about Obama," he continued.
Musk has since responded to the Instagram post, stating: "I take that as a compliment!"
The rapper took a screenshot of the business magnate's response and said on Instagram: "It was meant as a compliment, my friend. Now Obama on the other hand…"
West recently announced his candidacy for president in 2024, after appearing in a video alongside alt-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos.
Kanye West made the outlandish claims after seeing Elon Musk's childhood photos. Credit: Media Punch / Alamy
However, the presidential hopeful caused outrage once again, after recently appearing alongside conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, saying: "Every human being has a value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler."
During the same interview, the rapper launched an attack on Planned Parenthood, alleging it was involved in "New World Order population eugenics that is happening to this date."
Elon Musk has once again taken to Twitter with some controversial opinions.
On Saturday (June 18) the multi-billionaire Tesla boss asked his 98.9 million followers whether the social media platform TikTok was good for the human race.
"Is TikTok destroying civilization? Some people think so," he tweeted.
Musk quickly clarified his question in a follow up tweet, where he explained that he didn't just mean TikTok - but "perhaps social media in general."
Many people responded to Musk by saying out that the problem with TikTok is how quick it is to block content.
"TikTok is by far the WORST social media platform. They ban things that can’t possibly breach their terms of service. But leave the vilest stuff up," one person replied.
Another user pointed out that there were more obvious culprits destroying civilization than social media apps. "Probably. But Child Labor in Cobalt Mines is probably not helping either," they wrote sarcastically.
Either way, the video-sharing platform - which will be one of Musk's direct competitors if he successfully completes his deal with Twitter for $44 billion - has clearly been on the SpaceX boss's mind. A few days earlier, he brought it up again while speaking to Twitter staff over video chat.
"It does a great job of making sure you're not bored," Musk told his future employees on Thursday (June 16), per Insider.
He went on to praise the app's developers for having "honed the algorithm to be as engaging as possible."
As for how Twitter will compete with TikTok in the future, Musk speculated that they could learn a thing or two from the platform - particularly in terms of not letting Twitter offer up "boring" content.
"I mean, [TikTok] does just feel like Attention Deficit Disorder. But like, next level," he said, adding: "I do find some of their videos offensive, but they're not boring."
That said, he made it clear that he wanted Twitter to remain a slightly more serious and informative platform than TikTok, which is known for being beloved by younger users.
"TikTok is interesting, but you want to be informed about serious issues as well," Musk reportedly said.
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