Tesla CEO Elon Musk says "time to break up Amazon"
Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk stirred up a controversy after he said it is “time to break up Amazon”, escalating tensions Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, his billionaire rival investing in space exploration too.
His statement came in response to a tweet from an author named Alex Berenson, whose book “Unreported Truths About COVID-19 and The Lockdown” was being removed from Amazon’s Kindle publishing division for violating unspecified guidelines.
Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2020
He tagged Bezos in his reply and said, “Monopolies are wrong. His comment came at a time when Bezos’ online retail company Amazon and other tech companies are being scrutinized by federal lawmakers and regulators for increasing the scope and size of their business.
Musk went on to call the situation “insane.”
An Amzon spokesperson clarified that the book was removed by mistake and that it was being reinstated. The author tweeted a thank you to Elon Musk later.
Musk’s company SpaceX recently launched two astronauts from NASA into orbit to the International Space Station with a rocket ship built by the company on May 30 in a historic space mission, signifying the dawn of a new age in commercial space travel.
SpaceX is the first private company to launch people into orbit, a feat achieved previously by only three governments: the US, Russia, and China.
The mission by SpaceX also assumed significance as it marked the launch of humans into orbit from US soil for the first time in nearly a decade.
The CEO of Tesla had also contributed immensely to the development of the electrical vehicle manufacturing company since it was first established in Palo Alto, California in 2003.
Musk became well-known for his design of the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car that served as the dummy payload for the February 2018 Falcon Heavy test flight and became an artificial satellite of the Sun.
He received the Global Green 2006 product design award and the 2007 Index Design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster.
The 2008 model of the Roadster was earlier used by Musk for commuting to work and is the only production car in space.
(With inputs from agencies)
