Tesla CEO billionaire Elon Musk once offered Wikipedia a whopping $1 billion if it changed its name to ‘Dickipedia’. Recently, a social media user known as Doge Designer asked if Musk still had the offer. The millionaire entrepreneur replied the offer was still on the table restarting an online squabble.
Doge Designer wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Elon Musk once offered Wikipedia $1 billion to change their name to "Dickipedia."
The X owner immediately replied, “True. Offer still stands,” followed by laughing emojis.
Musk has often openly criticized Wikipedia and its parent company, the Wikimedia Foundation. In 2023, the Tesla boss publicly questioned the financial practices of the Wikimedia Foundation, which manages Wikipedia.
Musk skeptically queried their extensive fundraising efforts, asking “Have you ever wondered why the Wikimedia Foundation needs so much money? Wikipedia certainly doesn’t need it to operate. You can literally fit a copy of the entire text on your phone! So, what’s the money for?"
Incidentally, he had even urged netizens to stop donating to Wikipedia alleging that the organization was controlled by “far-left activists”.
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Tesla Boss makes the $1 billion offer
In a controversial statement, Musk made the infamous $1 billion offer, suggesting that the online encyclopedia company should rebrand itself.
“I will give them a billion dollars if they change their name to Dickipedia”, the Tesla CEO had written a year back mentioning that he would do so “in the interests of accuracy.”
A user remarked, “@Wikipedia, Do it! You can always change it back after you collect.”
Musk replied by commenting, “One year minimum. I mean, I'm not a fool lol.”
And now that a social media user reopened the topic, Musk coolly decided to stick with his original statement.
His response has started an online debate. Some are taking it as a lighthearted offer while others are interpreting it as his disapproval of digital platforms and their funding models.
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