Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are two of the richest men in the world. They have a lot in common — apart from billions of dollars, that is. Both men run space exploration companies and are titans of the tech industry, but what sort of equation do they share? In a podcast interview with Lex Fridman, Bezos was asked what he thinks of Musk. “Well, I don’t really know Elon very well,” Bezos said.”I know his public persona but I also know you can’t know anyone by their public persona — it’s impossible. You may think you do, but I guarantee you don’t.”
A ‘capable’ leader
Bezos was full of praise for Musk. “Judging by the results, he must be a very capable leader. There’s no way you can have Tesla and SpaceX without being a capable leader. It’s impossible,” he said.
Fridman, during the podcast, told Bezos that if the two billion hung out together, they hopefully would have a “friendship that would inspire the entirety of humanity.” Bezos agreed to the sentiment and said “I agree with you and I think with a lot of these endeavours we’re very like-minded. So I think, I’m not saying we’re identical, but we’re very like-minded so I love that idea.”
The Bezos-Musk rivalry, fuelled by ambition and competition, has simmered for years. It ignites in the space race, with Bezos’ Blue Origin challenging SpaceX’s dominance. Musk has jabbed at Bezos, calling him a “copycat” and mocking his spaceship. Bezos has countered with subtle digs and congratulated SpaceX on milestones, almost begrudgingly. Beyond space, their rivalry spilled over into the earthly realm. Musk championed the breakup of Amazon’s retail empire, while Bezos accused Musk of using government subsidies to gain an unfair advantage.
Despite their differences, Bezos and Musk have also acknowledged each other’s accomplishments, recognizing the broader goal of advancing space exploration for the benefit of humanity.