An enterprising teen received a direct message from world’s richest man, Elon Musk, on Twitter with an attractive offer: delete your Twitter account tracking my private jet and I’ll send you $5,000.
Elon Musks Offers Teen $5K To Stop Tracking His Private Jet, Teen Counters At $50K
Jack Sweeney is a 19-year-old college student. He runs a Twitter account called @ElonJet which tracks the movement of Musk’s private jet, a Gulfstream G650 under the registration N628TS.
Musk, who is an avid Twitter user, reached our to Sweeney via direct message last November. His message was direct:
“Can you take this down? It is a security risk.”
Seven hours later, Sweeney responded:
“Yes I can but it’ll cost you a Model 3 only joking unless?”
Musk responded, “I don’t love the idea of being shot by a nutcase,” and asked:
“Ok, how about $5K for this account and generally helping make it slightly harder for crazy people to track me.”
Sweeney countered back at $50K:
“Sounds doable, account and all my help. Any chance to up that to $50K? It would be great support in college and would possibly allow me to get a car maybe even a Model 3. Would love to help you out.”
Although Forbes reported this week that Musk is worth $240 billion on paper, he was not interested in the counteroffer, arguing it did not “feel right” to have to pay to shut down the account. He eventually stopped responding to Sweeney.
Even though Musk’s private jet is on a Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed (LADD) block list which prevents his aircraft information showing up in most public tracking services like FlightAware or FlightRadar24, Musk’s aircraft is still tracked on the ADS-B Exchange. Sweeney created a bot to monitor for activity on Musk’s aircraft and cross reference it with another website which posts anonymized FAA flight plans to determine his location.
Sweeney shared all this with Musk, who responded, “Air traffic control is so primitive.”
His last note was sent about a week ago. Sweeney asked for an internship instead of the payment. Musk has yet to respond or even read his message.
But Sweeney is not holding his breath. He told Protocol, which first broke this story,
“I think he’s on vacay in Hawaii if you check @ElonJet.”
Well played…
image: James Duncan Davidson
On the one hand Elon Musk can’t be seen offering money to anyone who games the system and finds way to track him. It opens too many doors to crazies out there all following in this kid’s footsteps.
On the other hand the kid is clearly smart and Musk would be foolish not to offer him an internship.
That’s not correct. He asked him to stop SHARING the information.
What is stopping anyone else from doing this if he stops? And why does Musk feel he is a target for “crazy people”? He comes across as a total douche. But then again so do the people that buy his cars.
There is something wrong when the richest man on earth can’t just kidnap and disappear this teen. Musk could run over ten people on the way to airport and it would be ok as far as i am concerned. This equal rights BS needs to stop already.
Interesting, but do you ever proofread before hitting post? Honestly your posts are interesting but lack of attention to detail just starts to grate after awhile.
Sweeney shared all this Musk,
An enterprising teen received a direct message from world’s richest man, Elon Musk
Musk, who is avid Twitter user,
this is a blog you moron. If you want editorials go to the NYT clown.
NYT editorial? Do you even know what an editorial is?
All I’m doing is pointing out that the author could proofread a bit more to make his message tighter and more credible. Not sure why that means you call me a moron. If one wants to be taken seriously, as I presume the blog owner does, they should welcome opportunities to be better. I like getting constructive criticism; not sure why my providing it elicits a mean-spirited response.
r/iamverysmart types and those who correct grammar on the internets are insufferable people in general, that’s why you got a hostile response.
If you want to come off as reputable and professional, don’t be sloppy, regardless of the channel. Just takes a quick revision.
What a loser. Making grammar comments on a blog. I bet you are an obese liberal loner.
I am sure Elon has friends at Twitter that can shut this teen account down. Offering money to him will only open a can of worms with many others doing the same. Yes, Elon is a douche, but a genius douche. I applaud him for making Tesla what it is today.
I think the kid’s demand comes across as extortion albeit via legal means. There’s nothing to stop someone else from setting up something similar in under a week. If the kid had offered to let Musk keep the money and asked for an internship, that would have passed the smell test.
It’s amusing though that since Musk is such a notorious “douche”, then the kid is only acting similar to his role model.
Musk could up the ante by requesting a restraining order. He can argue he was singled out and his privacy intentionally invaded. Better yet, he could demand in the order that the kid be prohibited from approaching any Tesla installations.
Elon is a bit whimsical and funny that he is the type that sits at home and reads message boards. Many years ago when the Model S first came out, I was one of the first ones that bought one. I was posting on a message board about a license plate that I reserved in California with a VERY similar license plate than Elon’s. He offered me $5,000 to buy that license plate from me. I’m still using it to this day. He’s that kind of guy.
For someone so concerned about the environment, he or his company uses his personal jet a lot! That’s a lot of jet fuel! I’m glad he still supports oil.
I am not sure that Musk created Tesla because he is concerned about the environment. It is about using great technology that happens to help the environment. For example, there is nothing environmentally friendly about mining lithium to build the batteries used on Teslas. Musk at least doesn’t use the “save the environment” to be fake like most celebrities that call themselves activists for saving the Earth but cruise the streets of LA in gigantic SUVs and fly private all the time including when they attend climate related conferences.
Well said, Santastico.
I have yet to come across a Tesla owner who is not a douchebag.
LOL, I woulda held out for $50,000.00!