Topline
A sporting feud appears to be brewing between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter owner Elon Musk, after Zuckerberg responded to an invitation from Musk to a cage fight—but it comes amid serious reports that Meta is is building a Twitter competitor.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook/Meta, is seen in attendance during the UFC Fight Night … [+] event at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Zuffa LLC
Key Facts
On Tuesday, Musk responded to a thread about Instagram’s upcoming Twitter competitor by joking that he’d be “up for a cage match” against Zuckerberg if the Meta CEO was willing.
Zuckerberg responded to the jibe on Wednesday evening in an Instagram story showing a screenshot of Musk’s tweet with the caption “send me location.”
A Meta spokesperson told the Verge that the Facebook founder was not joking and his response on Instagram “speaks for itself.”
Musk responded to the Verge’s report by tweeting, “Vegas Octagon” and then wrote, “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus’, where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing.”
After those comments, the Twitter owner and billionaire has continued to lean into jokes about his apparent lack of athleticism compared to Zuckerberg who trains in the martial art “jiu-jitsu.”
Forbes Valuation
According to our estimates, Musk’s net worth stands at $236.2 billion, making him the world’s richest person. Zuckerberg’s estimated wealth currently stands at $99.9 billion, which makes him the 10th richest person in the world.
News Peg
The strange feud between the two billionaires is linked to reports of Meta’s Instagram building a Twitter rival, codenamed Project 92 or P92. Musk responded to a report about the purported Twitter clone, saying “zuck my tongue.” On Wednesday, Musk responded to a tweet about Meta’s plan, saying: “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options.”
Key Background
Reports of P92 emerged in March, with Meta confirming it was “exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates.” The platform is reportedly being designed to be compatible with ActivityPub—the decentralized protocol used by the open-source Twitter rival Mastodon. P92 will reportedly tap into existing Instagram data—like names, profile photos, followers, etc.—both for users who sign up for the platform and even those who don’t. Earlier this month, the Verge reported that P92’s final name could be “Threads” and the company was attempting to bring high-profile users like Oprah and the Dalai Lama on board. Threads would likely be a serious rival to Twitter as Instagram’s active user base of 2 billion is roughly eight times the size of Twitter’s. According to the Verge report, Meta’s Chief Product Officer Chris Cox even took a shot at Twitter in an internal meeting by saying Threads will offer creators and public figures a “sanely run” alternative.
Further Reading
Mark Zuckerberg is ready to fight Elon Musk in a cage match (The Verge)
