Emails Show Elon Musk Begging for Privacy While Siccing His 200 Million Twitter Followers on Specific Private People He Doesn't Like
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Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Billionaire Elon Musk has demonstrated an extreme level of disregard for other people's privacy. He has a long track record of singling out specific private individuals to siccing his lackeys after them.
But when it comes to his own privacy, it's an entirely different matter.
It's a glaring double standard, with the mercurial CEO repeatedly trying to protect his own privacy at all costs. Case in point, as the New York Times reports, his staff tried to keep the construction of a ludicrously tall fence and gate to his $6 million mansion in Austin, Texas, hidden from the public.
Emails obtained by the newspaper show that Musk's handlers tried to make public meetings allowing neighbors to speak out about his plans private instead. His staff also argued that the city of Austin should exempt him from state and federal public records laws, efforts that ultimately proved futile.
The Zoning and Planning Commission ultimately voted to deny Musk the exceptions he was asking for to turn his mansion into a Fort Knox of billionaire quietude.
Yet while he goes to extreme lengths to keep his own affairs private, Musk's track record of invading other people's privacy — often using his enormous 200 million follower base to make other people's lives miserable — is extensive, to say the least.
In February, the mercurial CEO was accused of publicizing the occupation of the daughter of judge John McConnell to his hundreds of millions of followers, after her father unfroze the Department of Education's federal grants.
Musk has also accused Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Long of being a "disgusting and cruel person," after she reported on how Musk had armed a severely underqualified 25-year-old to infiltrate the US Treasury's payments system earlier this year.
In 2022, Musk took to Twitter to send his lackeys after Duke University professor and automation expert Missy Cummings for allegedly being "extremely biased against Tesla."
Late last year, Musk extensively bullied US International Development Finance Corporation employee Ashley Thomas on X-formerly-Twitter, resulting in major harassment by his followers on the platform.
But his capacity to receive criticism — much of it deserved, considering his actions — has been abysmal.
"It's really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of, really, hatred and violence from the Left," Musk whined during a Fox News interview in March after his gutting of the government and embrace of extremist views inspired a major anti-Tesla movement.
"I've never done anything harmful," he claimed. "I've only done productive things."
"My companies make great products that people love and I've never physically hurt anyone," Musk complained in a tweet at the time. "So why the hate and violence against me?"
More on Musk: Elon Musk Is Having Massive Drama With His Mansion's Neighbors
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