Mark Cuban says he knows one of Elon Musk's weaknesses
Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images; Julia Beverly/Getty Images
- Mark Cuban criticized Elon Musk's empathy and leadership of DOGE in a recent interview.
- Cuban argued Musk's cost-cutting measures harm government services and the people who need them.
- He recommends transparency and giving back if Musk wants to show he cares about US taxpayers.
Billionaire Mark Cuban has been a vocal critic of Elon Musk, and his latest comments were about Musk's character.
During an appearance on the political podcast, "Somebody's Gotta Win with Tara Palmeri," Cuban called the Tesla CEO's empathy into question. Musk is the de facto leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and he's carrying out its mission of cutting government spending with layoffs and budgeting slashing at several agencies.
During a three-hour interview with Joe Rogan in February, Musk criticized the amount of "civilizational suicidal empathy" in the US. Although Musk said he thinks "you should care about other people," he called it a fundamental weakness of Western civilization.
"He's proven that that's his weakness — not having empathy," Cuban said.
If Musk "truly cared" about taxpayers, he would realize he doesn't need government subsidies for Tesla and he'd sell satellite internet network Starlink at cost, Cuban said. He would be transparent and not make "a penny" from his work at SpaceX, including rescuing two astronauts who were stranded in space, he added.
Musk has referred to himself and DOGE as "tech support" for the federal government aimed at updating outdated systems. Cuban told host Palmeri that Musk's version of tech support isn't only affecting the people he accuses of fraud.
For example, he said, DOGE's efforts to root out fraud and convert systems in the Social Security Administration have made it harder for some beneficiaries to get the services they need.
He added, "You don't just make it more difficult for them. You implement things that allow them to access the system. That's just normal in any system conversion."
It's "tech 101," according to Cuban, who says Musk would be fired immediately in tech support for dismantling existing systems before rolling out replacements.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Last week, the "Shark Tank" star called DOGE out on Bluesky in a post wondering if it had "already forgotten" its mandated productivity emails that federal workers were told they had to submit in order to keep their jobs.