Over the years, Elon Musk has managed to become a leading figure in the world of technology, with businesses like Tesla, social media platform X, and SpaceX under his belt, as well as his political influence in the United States. His friendship with Donald Trump led him to become the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, despite having no political training.
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His rise to the top meant that he was making a lot of connections while building his vast network and controversial image, but also losing some along the way.
The billionaire had a close friend, named Sam Harris, who sadly got on his bad side. Earlier this year, he opened up on Substack, explaining what happened between them.
Sam Harris lost his friendship with Elon Musk after proving him wrong
The two men were friends for twelve years before the Covid-19 pandemic. Sam Harris, a philosopher and podcaster, explained that a single text completely destroyed their friendship. While Sam Harris claims he never wanted to speak publicly against his former friend, he felt compelled to after Elon Musk spoke ill of him in public. In a post shared on his Substack account, he wrote that everything went downhill during the Covid-19 pandemic, which Elon Musk described as 'dumb':
When the SARS-CoV-2 virus first invaded our lives in March of 2020, Elon began tweeting in ways that I feared would harm his reputation. I also worried that his tweets might exacerbate the coming public-health emergency.
Sam Harris then texted his friend privately, saying:
I really think you need to walk back your coronavirus tweet. I know there’s a way to parse it that makes sense (“panic” is always dumb), but I fear that’s not the way most people are reading it. You have an enormous platform, and much of the world looks to you as an authority on all things technical.
To which Elon Musk replied:
Sam, you of all people should not be concerned about this.
The two men then made a bet that Elon Musk would give $1 million to charity, and Sam Harris would buy him a bottle of $1,000 fancy tequila if the United States saw as many as 35,000 cases of Covid. When the US reached 35,000 cases of Covid-19, Sam Harris texted his friend, letting him know he had lost the bet.
Is (35,000 deaths + 600,000 cases) > 35,000 cases?
That text sealed the end of their friendship, as Elon Musk stopped all correspondence from then on, before speaking ill of Sam Harris on X.
Who is Sam Harris?
Sam Harris is the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, Lying, Waking Up, and Islam and the Future of Tolerance. The End of Faith led him to win a PEN Award for Nonfiction in 2005. He also hosts the Making Sense Podcast, which won a Webby Award for best podcast in the Science & Education category. According to his website, Sam Harris focuses on how our societies are changing as time goes on:
His writing and public lectures cover a wide range of topics—neuroscience, moral philosophy, religion, meditation practice, human violence, rationality—but generally focus on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live.
Sam Harris graduated from Stanford University with a degree in philosophy, and he later obtained a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA. He also created the Waking Up app to help people who want to get into meditation.
Read more:
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Elon Musk: Father Errol talks about his son's childhood, says he was 'anxious'
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Sources used:
Substack: The Trouble with Elon
Unilad: Podcaster reveals text that ended his friendship with Elon Musk after he proved the billionaire wrong
Sam Harris: About
