Did Elon Musk Really Just Go There? The Long History Behind His Bawdy Humor

The man has devoted much of his life to building giant rockets. 

So, perhaps, it should be no surprise that it has come to this: Elon Musk resorting to phallic barbs in his online feud with fellow billionaire Mark Zuckerberg.

“I propose a literal dick measuring contest,” Musk tweeted last Sunday night, topping even himself for a new level of blatant crassness. 

His coarse banter on a very public stage stands in stark contrast to much of corporate America’s current state of heartburn over possibly triggering any offense. After watching Bud Light fumble with transgender issues, c-suite executives have increased trepidation over being associated with social topics—even ones that may have recently been seen as promoting social good—out of concern about falling within someone’s crosshairs. 

Not Musk. He has built a following with wink-wink high-jinks at the companies he runs, from Tesla, the car company; to SpaceX, the rocket maker; and, as of late October, Twitter, the social-media platform. 

Some Twitter users found his Zuckerberg zinger out of bounds, such as Emmet Peppers, a hedge-fund manager, who responded: “Come on man…probably should delete this one.”

For many others—more than 55,000 users liked the tweet as of Friday evening—the jab appealed to a certain sophomoric sensibility, helping explain the unusual populism that Musk, as the world’s richest man, has cultivated after more than a decade of unusual tweeting. 

Over the years, his jokes have only grown edgier. Years ago, it was about naming Tesla’s vehicles so the ending characters on the model monikers spelled out S.3.X.Y. Today, he automatically responds to press inquiries at Twitter with poop emojis. His antics, even if off-putting to some, have helped endear him to others, who say he seems more authentic compared with image-conscious CEOs at other companies.

Musk’s sense of humor was on display in 2021 when he appeared as host of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” making jokes about himself, Gen Z and dogecoin. He also dressed up as Super Mario Bros.’ archrival Wario. 

With almost 150 million Twitter followers, Musk’s public stage may be bigger than most, although he isn’t the first business leader to try to harness the power of humor, which done successfully can create delight and foster connections. 

Among the most notable is Warren Buffett, who has long peppered his shareholder letters with aw-shucks humor. In 2008, the Oracle of Omaha cited country music lyrics to sum up the challenges of buying companies: “I’ve never gone to bed with an ugly woman, but I’ve sure woke up with a few.”

Yet Musk’s style is riskier, especially as he toys with topics not universally seen as funny such as Hitler, mansplaining or sperm banks. And at times, some have viewed Musk’s comments as going too far, veering into hurtful attacks and sexist tropes.

Last year, for example, he made light of an Insider report that SpaceX had settled claims by a flight attendant that included an accusation Musk had exposed himself to her. The billionaire took to Twitter to call the allegations “utterly untrue” and went into joke mode. “Finally, we get to use Elongate as scandal name,” he tweeted. “It’s kinda perfect.” 

Employees later complained, in an open letter to SpaceX executives, that his public antics, including that tweet in particular, were a distraction. The group cited more than a couple dozen of Musk’s tweets between 2020 and 2022 that it said “clearly depict the ‘Bro culture’ Elon seems to not only tolerate, but embrace and encourage online and in his personal life.”

Also among their list of offending tweets: One Musk sent during an October night in 2021 that was aimed at those who were wise to spelling humor: “Am thinking of starting new university: Texas Institute of Technology & Science.”

It wasn’t lost on certain followers that the made-up school name’s acronym was a certain vulgar slang for the female anatomy. “It will have epic merch,” Musk added in follow-up tweets. “Universally admired.” 

Swiftly, Musk faced criticism as being a chauvinist, especially as the tech industry broadly struggles with accusations of misogyny within its male-dominated ranks. 

“As a shareholder and customer, this is really a puzzling and disappointing attempt at humor,” responded Eric Wenger, an executive at Cisco. “We are trying to encourage more women to pursue technology degrees and careers. I cannot see how this helps that effort in any way.”

In following months, Tesla faced a string of lawsuits, unrelated to Musk’s comments, by women claiming sexual harassment at the automaker’s Bay Area assembly plant. “Tesla has subjected women working in its Fremont plant to nightmarish conditions of rampant sexual harassment,” a lawsuit filed by one of the women said. 

The automaker didn’t respond to a request for comment on the continuing cases. It has said it is against any kinds of harassment or discrimination.

Musk saves some of his most pointed, blue retorts for fellow billionaires—as if he is trying to rattle them or define them publicly on his own terms. 

After billionaire Jeff Bezos ’ rocket company Blue Origin in 2021 protested a government contract being awarded to Space X, Musk responded on Twitter that his rival, “Can’t get it up (to orbit) lol.”

Then last year, Musk, who has claimed Bill Gates was short selling Tesla stock, posted a tweet of the Microsoft co-founder in an unflattering profile picture in which he compared him with a pregnant-man emoji and wrote, “in case u need to lose a boner fast.”  

The latest beef with Zuckerberg emerged as the Meta Platforms CEO prepared to launch a rival app to Twitter. In the lead up to its debut last week, Musk had already proposed a cage fight between the two, but his pokes became more lewd after Zuckerberg’s Threads was greeted with a wave of positive publicity amid struggles at Twitter.  

Hours after Sunday’s tweet proposing the bawdy measuring contest, Musk posted something akin to a P.S.A. for Twitter: “You will get more laughs from this app than everything combined.”

“But I have to warn you,” Musk added, “don’t be shocked…there’s some negative stuff too.”

Write to Tim Higgins at [email protected]