Musk Offers Teen $5,000 To Stop Following His Jet On Twitter

Tesla CEO Elon Musk offered to pay a teenager $5,000 to delete his account on Twitter. It turned out that the teen, 19-year old Jack Sweeney, has an account on Twitter named @ElonJet. This provides regular updates of flights made by many famous public figures.

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$5,000 to Shut Down @ElonJet On Twitter

The Tesla CEO expressed his concerns about his personal safety when traveling by private jet. He reached out to Sweeney, a 19-year old university student, sometime in November.

In particular, Musk expressed concern about his personal safety now this jet and his flights are being monitored. @ElonJet provides flight information not just on Musk, but on many public figures as well. He utilizes publicly-available flight details that pilots need to file. 

In a direct tweet dated November 30, Musk asked Sweeney “Can you take this down? It’s a security risk”.  Eventually, the two exchanged more messages.

Musk got curious about how Sweeney managed to set up his bots on Twitter. He also asked how much he earned operating the @ElonJet.

Finally, Musk offered $5,000 to delete the account. “I don’t love the idea of being shot by a nutcase,” Musk explained.

$50,000, Not $5,000

However, Sweeney made a counteroffer of $50,000. He said that the money will go to supporting his college fund. And maybe, Sweeney can use some of the proceeds to buy a car.

Maybe even a Tesla Model 3. Musk said he will consider the officer. However, he later said it “didn’t feel right” for him to pay someone to shut down their account on Twitter.

Consequently, Musk cut off all communication and stopped responding. In addition, even Tesla representatives didn’t reply to requests for comment. However, it may be because the EV company dissolved its PR team last year. 

Meanwhile, Sweeney remarked that it was awesome and kind of scary to directly message the Tesla CEO. He said that he would like to work for one of Musk’s companies in the future.

He has reason to be in awe. Right now, Elon Musk is the richest person in the world in terms of net value. At present, he holds more than $240 billion in personal wealth, according to Forbes.  

Earlier, Musk Showed Concerns About Tracking His Flights

Meanwhile, the Tesla CEO lately expressed his concerns about accounts on Twitter tracking his flights. In fact, one of his followers, a Tesla investor, apologized to Musk for sharing his flight plans to Berlin, Germany.

Even as the timing of the trip was inaccurate, Musk said that accounts on Twitter following his flights are now becoming a security issue. 

Watch the Breaking News World video reporting that Elon Musk offered teen $5K to shut down Twitter account tracking his private flight's report: