The onlinr war of words between Indian-American billionaire investor Vinod Khosla and tech billionaire Elon Musk is only escalaing. In the most social media exchange, the venture capitalist hit out at Musk for what he called “seemingly racist” remarks.
The dispute began with a message shared by the Tesla CEO in 2025, in which he said that “white people are a rapidly diminishing minority of the global population.” In response to that remark, Khosla accused Musk of promoting racism and backing WAGA (“White America Great Again”). Musk replied by calling Khosla a “pompous a***ole” and a “retard.”
ALSO READ | Elon Musk hits back at Indian-American billionaire Vinod Khosla who accused him of promoting a ‘white America’ agenda
What did Khosla say?
Responding to Musk’s reaction over his earlier post, the Indian-American billionaire asked the SpaceX founder to “not tweet ‘seemingly’ racist stuff next time”.
“Instead of bringing your family into it, maybe try not tweeting ‘SEEMINGLY’ racist stuff next time? Many would appreciate it if you acknowledge you are not trying to establish a white society in America, and are not WAGA, and racism isn’t behind your many laments around white birth rates, declining % of population and many similar laments,” he wrote in a long post on X.
{{/usCountry}}“Instead of bringing your family into it, maybe try not tweeting ‘SEEMINGLY’ racist stuff next time? Many would appreciate it if you acknowledge you are not trying to establish a white society in America, and are not WAGA, and racism isn’t behind your many laments around white birth rates, declining % of population and many similar laments,” he wrote in a long post on X.
{{/usCountry}}Musk had also criticised Khosla over his handling of a public beach issue, to which Khosla responded that “you’d appreciate me standing up to the principle of defending ‘the principle of private property’ instead of giving in to whatever the Coastal Commission wants”.
“Unfortunately I have no proof to refute your claim that I am a pompous a***ole and retarded. I have said publicly I do admire your extraordinary entrepreneurial skills.”
Musk vs Khosla: Where it began
Prior to this post, Khosla had targeted Musk over his “white people rapidly diminishing minority” claim and accused him of racism.
He posted on X: “Elon Musk doesn't want MAGA, he wants WAGA or ‘white America great again’ as a ‘racism is great and desirable’ paradigm. All non-whites in Tesla, SpaceX, X, etc and all decent whites should quit and join our portfolio. Email us your LinkedIn!”
In a direct reply, Musk called Khosla a “pompous a***ole” and a “retard”. In responding to claims of racism, Musk said that his partner, Shivon Zilis, is half-Indian and that their eldest son is named after an Indian-origin astrophysicist who won a Nobel Prize.
“Vinod, you’re not just such a pompous a**hole that you tried to stop the public from using a public beach near your house, you’ve also gone full retard. My partner, Shivon, is half-Indian and my eldest son with her is named in honour of the great Indian physicist Chandrasekhar,” he wrote on X.