Elon Musk Calls Out Washington Post And 'Puppetmaster' Jeff Bezos: Here's What He Said

A war of words between the two richest people in the world continues, with a newspaper being dragged into the mix. 

What Happened: The Washington Post recently asked Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk for a comment on a story involving the EV maker and auto regulators. The newspaper noted that in replying to the inquiry, “Tesla and Musk did not respond to specific questions in a detailed request for comment.”

The Post published Musk's email reply, which reads, “For the 100th time, please give my regards to your puppetmaster,” referring to Amazon.com Inc AMZN founder Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post. In a subsequent tweet, he also criticized the newspaper's paywall for online articles.

The Washington Post’s current slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness”. Catchy – for sure – but then what’s up with the paywall for news!?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 28, 2022

The original comment from Musk appeared in an article titled, “How auto regulators played mind games with Elon Musk.” 

Related Link: Elon Musk Vs. Jeff Bezos: World's 2 Richest People In Battle Over Satellites 

Why It’s Important: Bezos purchased the Washington Post in 2013. The conflict between Musk and Bezos dates back to the two companies battling in a race to space with their respective SpaceX and Blue Origin brands.

Bezos and Blue Origin have filed several lawsuits against SpaceX, which prompted Musk to say Bezos was retiring from Amazon to “pursue a full-time job filing lawsuits against SpaceX.”

Musk passed Bezos as the wealthiest person in 2021, which prompted the Tesla CEO to use several second place ribbons and medal analogies and emojis on Twitter in reference to Bezos.

Musk is currently worth $275 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, ranking ahead of second-place Bezos at $194 billion.

Musk's ex-partner Grimes recently shared that the world's richest person lives frugally, which may have contributed to comments about Bezos and his need for multiple yachts. 

Photo: Courtesy of Steve Jurvetson and Tesla Owners Club Belgium on Flickr