Musk-Zuckerberg fight to be live-streamed on X

Fight mode: Musk gets into a Tesla car as he leaves a hotel in Beijing. He says he is lifting weights throughout the day, preparing for the fight with Zuckerberg. — Reuters

NEW YORK: Elon Musk says in a social media post that his proposed fight with Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg will be live-streamed on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The social media and tech moguls have been egging each other into a mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas since June.

“Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on X. All proceeds will go to charity for veterans,” Musk said in a post on X early on Sunday morning, without giving any further details.

Zuckerberg, responding on his social media app Threads, said: “I’m ready today. I suggested Aug 26 when he first challenged, but he hasn’t confirmed. Not holding my breath.”

He also suggested that they use a more “reliable platform” that can raise money for charity.

Earlier on Sunday, Musk had said on X he was “lifting weights throughout the day, preparing for the fight”, adding that he did not have time to work out so he brings the weights to work.

When a user on X asked Musk the point of the fight, Musk responded by saying “it’s a civilised form of war. Men love war”.

The brouhaha began when Musk said in a June 20 post that he was “up for a cage match” with Zuckerberg, who is trained in jiujitsu.

A day later, Zuckerberg, 39, who has posted pictures of matches he has won on his company’s Instagram platform, asked Musk, 52, to “send location” for the proposed throwdown, to which Musk replied “Vegas Octagon”, referring to an events centre where mixed martial arts championship bouts are held.

Musk then said he would start training if the cage fight took shape.

According to reports, if the matchup between Musk and Zuckerberg goes ahead, it would be a rare spectacle, even in the braggadocio-filled universe of the tech industry.

While Steve Jobs and Bill Gates used to snipe at each other, the closest the tech world had before this to real sporting feuds was among billionaire yachtsmen like Larry Ellison of Oracle and Hasso Plattner of SAP. — Agencies