A tech billionaire friendship appears to flourish on X between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos after rocket launches
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- Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos exchanged friendly tweets after rocket launches on Thursday.
- The billionaires have had a long-standing rivalry over space ambitions and more.
- Their recent interactions suggest a possible end to their long public feud.
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos may no longer be enemies. In fact, a friendship may be budding between the two billionaires, judging by tweets they recently posted on X.
Both tech founders own rocket companies that launched missions on Thursday, with mixed results.
SpaceX's huge Starship spaceship exploded, although its Super Heavy rocket booster successfully returned to a platform on Earth.
"@elonmusk Kudos to you and the whole SpaceX team on the flawless booster catch! Very impressive." Bezos wrote on X.
Earlier in the day, Bezos' Blue Origin launched its 32-story-tall New Glenn rocket into orbit. It lost its booster during the test flight.
"Well done, @JeffBezos, and the Blue Origin team!" Musk wrote.
Is their long feud over?
Followers on X — formerly Twitter — were quick to notice the sea change in the relationship between the billionaires.
Musk and Bezos have been embroiled in a years-long feud.
They've argued over their space ambitions at SpaceX and Blue Origin as they've repeatedly leapfrogged each other for the title of the world's richest person. That's a title Musk currently holds by a massive margin: With Bloomberg estimating his net worth at $439 billion, he's by far the richest person in the world. Bezos is second, with an estimated net worth of $240 billion.
Musk has said Blue Origin has tried to poach talent from SpaceX, and he's taunted Bezos repeatedly about the status of their respective businesses.
In 2015, when SpaceX landed its Falcon 9 spacecraft, Bezos needled Musk on Twitter by suggesting Blue Origin had already accomplished a similar feat.
Bezos has also subtly criticized Musk's mission to colonize Mars over the years. When NASA picked SpaceX for a major contract in 2021, Blue Origin was furious and protested the decision.
Less than two months ago, they were at it again. In an X post, Musk said Bezos had told people to dump their shares in his companies because Donald Trump was bound to lose the presidential election.
Hours later, Bezos said the claim was "100% not true."
Billionaire "Step Brothers"
This history is what has made Thursday's friendly repartee between the billionaires so jarring.
Musk posted a gif on X from the movie "Step Brothers," with the main characters saying, "Did we just become best friends? Yep!"
"Step Brothers is the perfect meme for @JeffBezos & me," Musk wrote.
He posted another clip from the same movie, implying his relationship with Bezos was now harmonious.
Actual footage of @ElonMusk & @JeffBezos at the Catalina Wine Mixer
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
pic.twitter.com/XE7VV8cCG1
Of course, all of this is unfolding on social media, which has its limitations. But one thing is for sure: No matter what's happening behind the scenes or offline, Thursday's exchanges mark a change in Bezos and Musk's online rapport.