So. Will Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk be duking it out in Italy? Or won’t they?
According to Zuckerberg, don’t bet on a fight anytime soon … though he sounds ready and willing to do so.
“I love this sport and I’ve been ready to fight since the day Elon challenged me,” Zuckerberg wrote on the Threads app, which launched as part of Instagram last month. “If he ever agrees on an actual date, you’ll hear it from me. Until then, please assume anything he says has not been agreed on.”
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“Not holding my breath for Elon, but I’ll share details on my next fight when I’m ready,” Zuckerberg added.
Zuckerberg was responding to a thread from Musk, who posted on his own social platform Twitter (er, X?) Friday morning that “the fight will be managed by my and Zuck’s foundations (not UFC). Livestream will be on this platform and Meta. Everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all. I spoke to the PM of Italy and Minister of Culture. They have agreed on an epic location.”
Musk subsequently added that he would need minor surgery on his shoulder, which would delay any fight for months.
In a Twitter (X) post, Italy’s culture minister confirmed that he spoke to Musk and had a “long, friendly” conversation about hosting the fight, adding that “it will not be held in Rome,” despite rumors that they were talking about holding the fight in the famed Coliseum.
Zuckerberg also pushed back on Musk’s claim that their charitable foundations would be leading the fight, if it ever happens.
“When I compete, I want to do it in a way that puts a spotlight on the elite athletes at the top of the game. You do that by working professional orgs like the UFC or ONE to pull this off well and create a great card,” he added.
The back and forth between the billionaires suggests that the fight is no closer to happening than it was when Musk first suggested it weeks ago. Any fight would require both sides to agree on the terms, including the location, charitable causes, and rules, and Zuckerberg’s comments suggest that Musk has been going rogue.
However, if the fight does happen, it could set the stage for a big winer from the media space: TKO Group, which will soon be created via a merger of the UFC and WWE. If it is involved in the fight, as Zuckerberg suggests (its CEO will be Musk friend Ari Emanuel), it could end up overseeing the media spectacle of the year.
