Elon Musk took issue with a recent article by the Verge on Monday that referred to the trillionaire oligarch as a “killer.” The article explains that Musk took a chainsaw to the federal government and slashed foreign aid spending, cuts that have contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands. But Musk rejects the idea that he’s a killer.
“If I were [a killer], the douchebags at Verge would have been dead long ago,” Musk wrote on X, along with one of those crying-laughing emojis he uses all the time.
Nilay Patel, the editor-in-chief of the Verge, took Musk’s threat in stride, tweeting, “Oh hey thanks for the shout here’s a gift link so everyone can read it.”
Oh hey thanks for the shout here’s a gift link so everyone can read it https://t.co/3CXnG1zoOv
— nilay patel (@reckless) June 15, 2026
Patel’s reply seems to be buried far below other commenters, though it’s unclear why. The top comments on Musk’s tweet are typically just praise of Musk, who seems to have created a safe space at X to protect his fragile ego and only hear from the most nauseatingly complimentary fans of the white supremacist CEO.
Musk bought the platform in late 2022 and made a number of changes, including stripping most legacy “verification” checkmarks. The goal was to get people to buy a premium subscription and see their tweets surfaced more prominently in the algorithm as a result. Patel has a blue checkmark, but when Gizmodo reached out for comment Monday, the Verge editor said he doesn’t pay for it.
“It’s a legacy check and I’ve never paid, so I have always assumed my reach is throttled,” said Patel, who went on to joke that it, “doesn’t matter much as I won’t use X, the Everything App, until it can handle all my financial transactions and video streaming needs as Elon promised.”
Asked whether he considers Musk’s comment a threat, Patel responded that “Elon says all kinds of stuff all the time, I don’t worry about it much.” Patel added that he wishes Musk would link to the Verge more: “The open web really needs the help.” X suppresses any tweets with links under the theory that nobody should leave the social media platform for any reason.
While Patel’s tweet has been buried, the most prominent comments under Musk’s anti-Verge tweet are sycophantic, of course.
“I love his sense of humor when he’s in these moods,” reads one of the top replies to Musk’s threat against the Verge.
“They charge money to read their articles anyways. Buy it and make tech journalism more interesting,” wrote another commenter with just 163 followers who gives Musk money each month for a blue checkmark.
They charge money to read their articles anyways. Buy it and make tech journalism more interesting
— Luke Turner (@lukturner) June 15, 2026
If we were talking about anyone else, it might be funny. But suggesting that Musk buy a media property has the potential to alter his actions. After all, Musk only made an offer for Twitter in 2022 after someone suggested the same thing. Musk later tried to back out of that deal but a court forced him to buy Twitter for roughly $43 billion in Oct. 2022.
The Verge could be a target for acquisition given the recent shake-up at Vox Media. It was revealed last month that James Murdoch is buying half of Vox Media, including the company’s podcast network and New York magazine. But the Verge is not part of that sale.
Objectively speaking, Elon Musk is at least partially responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. His Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) helped unlawfully destroy USAID, and researchers at Boston University estimate that this action has led to the deaths of over 700,000 people so far. Millions more are expected to die by 2030 because they don’t have access to life-saving treatments, food, and disease prevention programs that were all made possible by USAID’s work.
Last week, Musk became the world’s first trillionaire, putting even more of a spotlight on his decision to hoard so much wealth. Musk has frequently explained that he doesn’t believe in giving money to charity because his private companies supposedly benefit humanity enough. The SpaceX CEO gives billions to his own foundation each year, but that appears to just be a tax write-off and the money largely just sits in an account and isn’t distributed to outside groups, according to the New York Times.
After the SpaceX IPO last week, Forbes estimated Musk’s wealth at $1.1 trillion. Today, the Forbes website shows he’s worth $1.3 trillion, thanks to the stock price of SpaceX rising almost 20% on Monday.
Musk has enough money to buy the Verge or any other journalistic endeavor that displeases him. That’s what his billionaire buddies have been doing with other media, like CBS News and CNN. But he seems content just whining about how unfairly the media treat him and making vague death threats to journalists. At least for now.
Musk didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday, which isn’t surprising. Gizmodo will update this article if we hear back.
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