Standing atop a desk while touring Detroit’s College for Creative Studies on Tuesday, West gave an impassioned defense of the Tesla chief executive — in what looked like a 2018 version of Tom Cruise manically proclaiming his love for Katie Holmes on “Oprah” — at a time when both men are fighting off increasingly vocal critics.
“Elon Musk — I don’t give a f— who’s over his house — leave that man the f— alone,” West pleaded in a brief clip posted on Twitter. “Leave that man the f— alone.”
West also appeared to refer to rapper Azalea Banks, who said she saw Musk tweet “while on acid” when she was hanging out at his house in August.
But that hasn’t been the only headline-grabbing moment from Musk — or from West — in recent months. The SEC hit Musk with a fraud lawsuit last week, stemming from a tweet he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private in August — rocketing Tesla’s stock price higher. Musk ultimately walked back talks of taking Tesla private. And the SEC ended up calling its lawsuit off, after Musk agreed to pay a $20 million fine and step down as Tesla’s chairman this past weekend.
West, meanwhile, has upset many of his fans — including Lana Del Rey — for sporting a “Make America Great Again” hat in support of President Trump. And after wearing his red MAGA hat on “Saturday Night Live,” West ruffled more feathers on Sunday when he called for the repeal the 13th amendment.
“This represents good and America becoming whole again. We will no longer outsource to other countries,” he tweeted. “We build factories here in America and create jobs. We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment. Message sent with love.”
No word yet on if there will be a Yeezy-Tesla collaboration.
7 Rad Projects Elon Musk Has Worked On (Photos)
Elon Musk has been at the forefront of Silicon Valley innovation for two decades. The South Africa-born entrepreneur has been linked to a number of high-profile, intriguing ventures... so let's take a look.
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Pay Pal
Musk made his initial fortune thanks to PayPal, which he sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. He made a cool $165 million off the deal.
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Tesla Motors
Instead of buying an island and living the high life after the PayPal sell, Musk went to work on getting the world off its dependency on oil. He founded Tesla Motors (now Tesla Inc.) in 2003, taking over an old Toyota-General Motors manufacturing plant in the Bay Area. The slick electric cars can travel 250 miles without a charge and sell for upwards of $100,000. Its "mass" car, the Model 3, is due out in 2018.
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Space X
Perhaps the project most important to Musk is SpaceX. Founded in 2002, the rocket company has worked with NASA on several launches. SpaceX made history when it developed "recycled" rockets that are able to be launched, landed and reused. Even more ambitious, Musk wants to send manned missions to Mars within the next decade... and colonize the red planet.
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Hyperloop
Musk frequently travels back and forth between NorCal and SoCal, and he wants to do it quickly. Enter Hyperloop, where passengers will be put in pods and shot through tubes connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles at speeds of up to 760 miles per hour. Musk sketched the concept in 2013, and it's now being pursued by a group in L.A. full-time.
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Neuralink
Musk is also big on artificial intelligence and hopes to find a way to directly connect humans to machines. That's where his Neuralink comes in. Co-founded by Musk in 2016, the company aims to integrate our minds with AI advancements via chip implants.
Via @nbashaw on Twitter
The Boring Company
The Boring Company aims to alleviate traffic by building an underground network of tunnels. Cars would be able to latch on to giant sleds and zip through tunnels at 125 mph or passengers can take futuristic glass buses if they want.
The Boring Company
SolarCity
Founded by Musk's cousins in 2006, SolarCity is the second-largest provider of solar panels in the USA. Musk owned 22 percent of its shares when Tesla bought-out the company for more than $2.5 billion in 2016.
Tesla Inc.
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The real-life Tony Stark is the poster boy for Silicon Valley entrepreneurship
Elon Musk has been at the forefront of Silicon Valley innovation for two decades. The South Africa-born entrepreneur has been linked to a number of high-profile, intriguing ventures... so let's take a look.