Musk vs. Soros: The Tweet Heard ‘Round the World

Twitter owner Elon Musk stirs controversy with a tweet comparing George Soros to comic-book villain Magneto. Dive into this trivia-filled account of the Musk Vs. Soros clash and its impact on social media.

George Soros, a Holocaust-surviving Jewish-born investor, and philanthropist, is often the target of far-right, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. According to a regulatory filing, Soros Fund Management LLC sold all of its 2.5 million shares of Tesla Inc. in the first quarter of 2023. This prompted Musk to tweet on May 16, 2023: “Soros is a traitor to humanity and a threat to our planet,” comparing him to the X-Men’s civilization-crushing Magneto. Here are the facts.

1. The Billionaires: A Philanthropist and a Tech Mogul

George Soros, a Jewish-born investor, and philanthropist, is no stranger to controversy, often the target of far-right, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, tech tycoon and Twitter’s new owner has a reputation for stirring up the Twitterverse with his unconventional views and radical changes to the platform.

2. The Unlikely Marvel Connection

In a plot twist worthy of a Marvel comic, on May 16, 2023, Musk dropped a tweet comparing Soros to Magneto, the metal-manipulating mutant. For those living under a rock (or who are just DC fans), Magneto is a Marvel villain. He is a Jewish Holocaust survivor with a deep grudge against humanity. Coincidence or a deliberate jab? We’ll leave that up to you.

3. A Tesla Sale and a Netflix Buy

Before we dive deeper into this tweetstorm, let’s go back to May 12, 2023. Soros Fund Management decided to part ways with its Tesla stake and cozy up to Netflix instead. It also bought 1.2 million shares of Lucid Motors Inc., a competitor in the electric vehicle market.

4. A Tweet That Shook the Twitterverse

Fast forward to May 16, Elon Musk tweets about Soros, painting him as the civilization-crushing Magneto. He further accuses Soros of hating humanity. Did Musk’s tweet have a touch of sour grapes? Or was it just another day in the life of one of tech’s most unpredictable personalities?

5. Civil Rights Organizations React

Several civil rights organizations didn’t see the humor in Musk’s tweet, though. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), for instance, condemned Musk’s tweets, calling them “dangerous” and warning they could “embolden extremists.” Musk’s representation of Soros as a supervillain was seen as fueling anti-Semitism, and not everyone was buying his “just stating my opinion” defense.

6. Musk Stands His Ground

Musk has stood by his tweet despite the backlash, maintaining that his comment was not anti-Semitic but simply an opinion about a “controversial figure.” He has asserted that he’s “not afraid to speak my mind” and will “continue to do so.”

The Twitter Quiz

News Trivia Time: Now that you know all the facts about the Musk vs. Soros incident, how about a news quiz?

Twitter Quick Quiz

Social Media Quiz: 7 Multiple-choice general knowledge questions about Twitter. No time-limit. How smart are you today?

1 / 7

1. Where is Tucker Carlson planning his next show?

Screenshot: Tucker Carlson on Twitter

Fox News.

Twitter.

Newsmax.

NBC.

Tucker Carlson said he would bring a revised version of his show to Twitter after being fired by Fox News in April 2023. He announced it on May 9, 2023, in a Twitter video praising the social platform for free speech. He also received a cool welcome from Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, who clarified he hadn’t signed any deal with Carlson.

2 / 7

2. According to a leaked memo, only 6 months after its acquisition, what does Elon Musk value Twitter at?

Screenshot: Tesla – YouTube

Twice what he paid.

$50 billion.

Half of what he paid.

$10 billion.

Elon Musk values Twitter at $20 billion, according to an internal memo reported by the Information on March 25, 2023. Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter in October 2022, meaning Twitter lost more than half its value in just half a year. However, Musk acknowledged it as an overpayment at the time of the deal.

3 / 7

3. Effective Nov. 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing which policy?

Image: HowSmart.net using Dall-E

Its hateful conduct policy.

Its private information policy.

Its COVID-19 misleading information policy.

Its civic Integrity policy.

Following Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, the social platform made a single-sentence update to its policies: “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter will no longer enforce the COVID-19 misleading information policy.”

4 / 7

4. After testing if his Twitter account was unblocked in Nov. 2022, Ye tweeted what?

Screenshot: X17onlineVideo – YouTube

God is love.

You can’t be anti-Semite when you know you are Semite.

I’m not talking to nooobody for a month.

Shalom : )

After Elon Musk announced that his newly acquired company had restored Kanye West’s Twitter account, the rapper returned to the platform on Nov. 20, 2022. In October 2022, Twitter moderators blocked Ye’s page because of his antisemitic tweets. After confirming Twitter unblocked him, Ye tweeted: “Shalom : ).”

Is Ye still on Twitter?

By Dec. 1, West’s account was suspended after the troubled rapper tweeted an image of a Nazi swastika inside the Jewish Star of David. The indefinite suspension happened the same day Ye appeared on Infowars’ conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones’s podcast, during which he said, “I like Hitler.”

5 / 7

5. Which of these happened within 12 hours of Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter?

Photo: Elon Musk (@elonmusk) / Twitter

Donald Trump returned to Twitter.

Use of the n-word on Twitter shot up by 500%.

Twitter changed its moderation rules.

The platform went offline.

Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter on Oct. 28, 2022, led to a 500% increase in the use of the N-word to demean Black people on the platform within just 12 hours, according to the National Contagion Research Institute, a disinformation tracking agency. Users were encouraged to amplify derogatory slurs on Twitter in several posts on the 4chan fringe message board website.

Is Trump returning to Twitter?

As of Nov. 2, 2022, Elon Musk announced Twitter would only allow people banned from its site to return once it sets up procedures on how to do so. That includes the former President, despite a fake meme stating otherwise.

6 / 7

6. Elon Musk bought Twitter. For how much?

Screenshot: TED on YouTube

$440 billion.

$44 billion.

$4 billion.

$440 million.

In a deal valued at $44 billion, Twitter announced on Apr. 25, 2022, that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Elon Musk. The transaction would result in Twitter becoming a privately owned company.

Did Musk drop out of the Twitter deal?

On May 13, 2022, Elon Musk tweeted, “Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts represent less than 5% of users.” On July  8, he said in a letter to Twitter that the company’s “misrepresentation of the number of spam accounts” might be a “material adverse effect (MAE)” that would allow him to walk away under the terms of the deal contract.

Was that the end of it?

Twitter filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Musk on July 12, 2022, trying to force Musk to complete the takeover. Ahead of the Delaware court face-off on Oct. 17, Musk tweeted on Oct. 4, 2022, that buying Twitter would speed up his ambition to create an “everything app” called X and proposed to proceed with his original $44 billion bid to take Twitter, which he eventually did.

7 / 7

7. What is Twitter Blue?

Social media related depression.

Jack Dorsey’s Twitter handle.

The company’s account verification service.

The company’s subscription service.

Twitter Blue is the company’s subscription service, allowing paying subscribers to recall tweets, theme their Twitter app and app icon, and experience new features early.

Where and when is Twitter Blue available?

Twitter first launched the Twitter Blue service in June 2021 in Canada and Australia on iOS. On Nov. 9, 2021, Twitter Blue became available in the US and New Zealand and on Android and the web. After purchasing Twitter, Elon Musk said he was considering raising the subscription price and moving all verified users to the paid program. Starting Dec. 13, 2022, the relaunched service costs $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for iPhone users. Subscribers see fewer ads, can post longer videos, and have their tweets emphasized.

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Sources

We cross-checked our Musk vs. Soros facts with the world’s leading news outlets.

• The Washington Post: Elon Musk compares George Soros to Jewish supervillain Magneto
• CNBC: Elon Musk’s interview with David Faber
• Reuters: Soros Fund Management cut Tesla stake, added Netflix in 1st quarter
• The Atlantic: Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitism Was Inevitable
• TheStreet: Elon Musk Fights Billionaire George Soros
• Deadline: Elon Musk Defends George Soros Tweets & Other Conspiracy Theory Posts