In the pantheon of dramas happening in the world of Elon Musk, it would not be outrageous to think that a mean quote would be the least of his concern. The world's richest man is under investigation by the SEC for market manipulation for filing as a passive investor in Twitter despite talking about the company publicly, according to The Washington Post. Multiple lawsuits are pending against him. And in his own words, his offer to buy the social media company is in jeopardy.
But it's a quote from Jackson Palmer that has Musk upset. Palmer is best known for co-creating the cryptocurrency known as Dogecoin.
According to Entrepreneur Magazine, Palmer and the people he worked on Dogecoin with based the cryptocurrency on a meme. Many credit Musk with its exploding popularity.
In the post, Palmer told Crikey that the billionaire is "a grifter." He explained that he put together code to find crypto scams and put together a report for Twitter. It scanned tweets, recognized something that didn't seem right, and would send the information to the executives at the social media company.
This was done with the help of the founder and former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey. The script was shared with other crypto influencers, including Elon Musk.
A Feud Of Words
Palmer alleged that while Musk was not on the initial list that the code was sent to. However, word got back to him, and he asked for a copy of it. Things did not go well.
Crikey quoted Palmer saying: "After I gave him the script, I wasn't a fan of him. He's a grifter, he sells a vision in hopes that he can one day deliver what he's promising, but he doesn't know that..."
As proof, he pointed to the Tesla self-driving concept. It has come under fire from several groups, including the federal government. Business Insider reports there are safety hazards associated with the program. Some customers have been waiting, while continuing to pay, for a service that might not come to fruition.
The Crikey interview continued with Palmer saying that people don't really like Musk. Instead, he believes that they think there's a chance to get rich fast or have him give them money. Which is something that the billionaire plays up, in his opinion.
"About a year ago, when Musk was saying something about crypto, I said Elon Musk was and always will be a grifter but the world loves grifters. They love the idea that they may also be a billionaire one day, and that's the dream he's selling."
Musk took issue with Palmer's words. He claimed in a tweet that the code sent to him wasn't good and that his kids could do better at the age of 12. He went on to call Palmer a "tool."
The two sides continue to be far apart on nearly everything.
Point And Counterpoint
Musk said in his tweet: "Like I said, if it's so great, he should share it with the world and make everyone's experience with Twitter better. If he does, you will see what I mean."
It didn't take long for Palmer to point out that he had indeed published his code. In his own tweet, he said that he had shared it and that it worked for the people who used it. "I shared it with a lot of people, and it worked for them."
Palmer also defended himself against Musk, and his fans were attacking him and the code he wrote. He said that while it was not complex, it was not meant to be. It was meant to work and to help people, which he believes it did.
As the battle of words between the two escalated, Musk replied to Palmer's tweet. He called the code "useless" and a "pos."
This earned a response from Palmer via another tweet: "Living rent-free in a billionaire's head... that's praxis."
Musk seems to have moved on from the feud, at least for the moment. He issued a memo to Tesla's executive staff telling them they need to return to the office or be fired, CNN reports.
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