Here’s why Elon Musk offered a 19-year-old $5,000 to delete his Twitter account

Friday, 28 January 2022 05:53

Here’s why Elon Musk offered a 19-year-old $5,000 to delete his Twitter account

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The exchange between Musk and Jack Sweeney, who runs the @ElonJet account, reportedly began last fall

Elon Musk has been vocal lately about the dangers of his travel schedule being made public, particularly for his family’s safety.

Earlier this month, one Twitter user announced that he would no longer be posting Musk’s travel schedules and plans in an attempt to “to keep Elon and his family safe,” to which Musk responded that the updating of travel plans was beginning to become a “security issue.”

But per a new report, it seems as though Musk has been trying to take down accounts tracking his travel plans for quite some time now.

Last fall, Musk allegedly messaged 19-year-old Jack Sweeney, who runs The twitter account @ElonsJet.

The account, which has more than 93,000 followers, tracks Musk’s private jet activity with a bot via public ADS-B data, per the account’s bio.

Sweeney says that Musk messaged him "Can you take this down? It is a security risk,” regarding the account. He responded to the billionaire: "Yes I can but it'll cost you a Model 3 only joking unless?"

The two riffed back and forth, with Musk saying he doesn’t “love the idea of being shot by a nutcase,” in typical brash Musk fashion.

The Tesla CEO then offered Sweeney $5,000 to take down the account entirely.

Sweeney had other ideas in mind.

“Any chance to up that to $50k? It would be great support in college and would possibly allow me to get a car maybe even a Model 3,” he said to the billionaire, who surprisingly said he would “think about it.”

Sweeney followed up on Wednesday by telling Musk he would actually prefer an internship with Tesla over the cash payout, but Musk has yet to open the latest DM.

The account’s most recent Tweet, posted a day ago, showed Musk’s jet landing in Austin, Texas.

Landed in Austin, Texas, US. pic.twitter.com/4l7tKiUspp

— Elon Musk's Jet (@ElonJet) January 26, 2022

“We track the plane not who may or may not be onboard,” the account was quick to clarify.

Sweeney’s personal Twitter account describes his interests as “anything Space, Tesla or Aviation,” which must make his DM exchanges with Musk feel like a dream come true.

Entrepreneur