Elon Musk has earned a lot of new critics after his moves over the last few years have grown more erratic.
After buying Twitter in October 2022, Musk transformed the platform, changing its name to X and slowly ironing out a lot of the previous hallmarks that longtime Twitter users knew and loved.
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While many were thrilled with the Tesla CEO taking over the platform and envisioned his ownership as a brave new world, he also had his share of folks criticizing the way the social media outlet was changing, as well as his business choices outside of it.
Related: Billionaire Mark Cuban wants to take down TikTok
One of his earliest vocal critics was fellow billionaire and “Shark Tank” celeb Mark Cuban, who has targeted Musk tirelessly in X posts and comments, many of which Musk deigned to respond to entirely. However, Cuban’s balance of respect for some of Musk’s achievements and willingness to call out others has made his criticisms very interesting to read.
Mark Cuban has a business question for Elon Musk yet again. (Photo by Travis P. Ball/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
Travis P. Ball/Getty Images
Mark Cuban grills Elon Musk about tariffs
With the country in a panic over the details of Trump’s newly debuted tariffs, Cuban took to X to ask a question about how tariffs related to Musk’s own businesses.
Hey @elonmusk , you may be the greatest manufacturing builder of all time. Did you need protective tariffs in order to manufacture in the USA ? Or were private capital , your investment, and local and federal government incentives the difference ? BTW, what I respect most…
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) April 3, 2025
“Hey @elonmusk, you may be the greatest manufacturing builder of all time,” Cuban wrote. “Did you need protective tariffs in order to manufacture in the USA? Or were private capital, your investment, and local and federal government incentives the difference? BTW, what I respect most about you is that you go all in with your own money for your startups. Most people don’t have the balls.”
As usual, Cuban’s tongue is firmly in cheek here. And also as usual, Musk’s fans were quick to hop into the comments, with many name-calling Cuban and asking if he was being sarcastic. However, others actually focused on the point of the question at hand.
He has talked about this many times – localizing supply chains is a smart move – it protects you against actions like this, other natural disasters etc. also, he had to vertically integrate a lot because companies wouldn’t supply with them at first, or stuff just wasn’t available
— Pask (@Pask218337) April 3, 2025
What’s the point of this, Mark? Are you being sarcastic?Because Elon Musk doesn’t go “all in” with his own money. Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity were built on billions in government subsidies, tax breaks, and federal contracts–not personal risk.He’s one of the largest…
— LorettaFaucher🇺🇲🌊🌊🇺🇦🌻 (@lorettafaucher) April 3, 2025
Musk has not replied to Cuban’s question as of the time of this writing.
How tariffs will change the automotive industry
While many automotive companies are still reeling from the recent announcement of a 25% import tax, Tesla appeared unscathed with its stock remaining flat. However, Musk was quick to point out that Tesla is not invincible simply because its vehicles are manufactured in the US.
“The major takeaway I think people should know about this is no vehicle is 100% US-made,” he said on social media. “The consumer is going to feel it across the board and I really don’t think that any automaker is going to be spared from this, Tesla included.”
Related: Elon Musk may be riding off into the sunset at Doge.