Elon Musk has hit back at Indian-origin billionaire Vinod Khosla, calling him a “pompous a**hole.” The Tesla CEO's outburst came in response to the venture capitalist's accusation that Musk was making racism “desirable” again.
The exchange was triggered by a 2025 post from Musk, who, at the time, said that “white people are a rapidly diminishing minority of the global population.”
Responding on Tuesday, Khosla alleged that Musk supports “WAGA” - “White America Great Again”, rather than MAGA, and called on employees at Tesla, SpaceX, and X to resign.
“[Elon Musk] doesn't want MAGA, he wants WAGA or ‘white America great again' as racism is a great and desirable paradigm,” Khosla wrote on X. “All non-whites in [Tesla], [SpaceX], [X] etc and all decent whites should quit and join our portfolio. Email us your LinkedIn.”
Musk attacked Khosla, citing his own family connections to India. He said that his partner, Shivon Zilis, is half-Indian and that his eldest son with her is named after Nobel Prize-winning Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
“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,” he responded on X.
Vinod, you're not just such a pompous asshole that you tried to stop the public from using a public beach near your house, you've also gone full retard.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2026
My partner, Shivon, is half Indian and my eldest son with her is named in honor of the great Indian physicist Chandrasekhar.
Earlier this month, Musk drew backlash for supporting a post that read, “If White men become a minority, we will be slaughtered… White solidarity is the only way to survive. He responded with the “100” emoji.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2026
Before that, he alleged racial discrimination by South African authorities over Starlink's licensing. “Starlink is not allowed to have an Internet provider licence in South Africa for the sole reason that I am not Black. This is not ok,” he wrote, later claiming, “South Africa now has more anti-White laws than there were anti-Black laws under Apartheid!”
Starlink is not allowed to have an Internet provider license in South Africa for the sole reason that I am not Black.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2026
This is not ok. https://t.co/MVCUAu6kfk
In 2023, the billionaire agreed with an antisemitic post alleging that Jewish groups were responsible for promoting “hatred against whites.”
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