There really is no such thing as privacy these days, even for billionaires. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is trying to shut down a Twitter account set up by University of Central Florida student Jack Sweeney, calling it a “security risk” because it tracks the comings and goings of Mr. Musk’s private jet.
The account, @ElonJet, is a bot set up by Mr. Sweeney using publicly available data from the Federal Aviation Administration. It has 230,000 followers, and its tweets receive hundreds of retweets and likes.
Mr. Musk contacted the Florida college student last fall via Twitter direct message, according to Protocol, saying “Can you take this down? It is a security risk,” according to screenshots obtained by USA Today. Mr. Musk is offering him $5,000 to shut down the account.
But Mr. Sweeney says he is holding out for $50,000 to help pay for school and a car. Mr. Musk is currently the richest man in the world with a net worth of $222 billion, according to Forbes. Mr. Sweeney jokes he would also take the account down in exchange for a Tesla Model 3 electric car.
According to the account, Mr. Musk’s jet most recently landed Sunday in Brownsville, Texas after a two-hour flight from Hawthorne, California.
Responses to the account have been mixed, with some agreeing with Mr. Musk that it is a security risk and others siding with Mr. Sweeney. One commenter said that Mr. Sweeney “is doing God’s work.”
Mr. Musk is not the only technology mogul whom Mr. Sweeney tracks — he also has accounts following the whereabouts of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Mr. Sweeney did give Mr. Musk a tip on how to block accounts like his, which the billionaire appears to be using. Mr. Sweeney says he’s still able to track Mr. Musk’s jet, even though it’s a bit more complicated.
• Peter Santo can be reached at psanto@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.