Elon Musk says he is quitting Twitter 'for a while'

Billionaire is one of site's most high-profile, and most controversial, users

Andrew Griffin
Tuesday 02 June 2020 11:04 BST
Comments
Tesla founder and CEO, Elon Musk, has been criticised for plans to restart production
Tesla founder and CEO, Elon Musk, has been criticised for plans to restart production (REUTERS)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Elon Musk says he is quitting Twitter "for a while".

The SpaceX and Tesla founder is one of the site's most high-profile users, and regularly sends tweets making major announcements about himself or his companies.

But his Twitter account has brought controversy, too, with Mr Musk regularly causing controversy with his posts.

"Off Twitter for a while," Mr Musk wrote in the post.

It comes just days after SpaceX launched Nasa astronauts into space in a historic mission. When it did, it became the first private company to send humans into orbit, carrying Nasa astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS) over the weekend.

The launch was also the first time Nasa had launched astronauts from US soil in nine years.

Musk did not confirm why he had decided to take time off the social media site.

The billionaire has had a number of controversial moments using his Twitter account.

Last year he was found not liable in a defamation case involving a British cave explorer. Vernon Unsworth had sued the Tesla co-founder after he called him "pedo guy" and "sus" (suspicious) on Twitter in a spat following the July 2018 Thai cave rescue.

Musk has also previously been sanctioned by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegations of misleading investors with some of his tweets, including one about taking the company private.

He has said in the past that his Twitter account is "complete nonsense".

The South Africa-born entrepreneur and his partner, Canadian singer Grimes, made headlines last month when they welcomed their first child together, a boy, giving him the unusual name X AE A-Xii.

Additional reporting by Press Association

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in