‘It’s more his beef…’: LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman on Elon Musk’s allegations over Tesla protest

LinkedIn xo-founder Reid Hoffman has dismissed allegations that he was behind the protests taking place across the US against Tesla, led by billionaire Elon Musk.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Hoffman, who was an early investor in OpenAI, said the world’s richest man Elon Musk was still bitter over OpenAI’s success after his departure in early 2018.

Last week, Musk had alleged that Hoffman and George Soros were among those who orchestrated the protests against Tesla.

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“An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla “protests”…ActBlue funders include George Soros, Reid Hoffman, Herbert Sandler, Patricia Bauman, and Leah Hunt-Hendrix,” Musk had posted on X on March 8.

Responding to these allegations, Hoffman said, “Well, so actually, it is more his beef with me for having made OpenAI successful with his departure.”

He went on to say that this is evident since Musk had left the startup in 2018 saying, “You are all a bunch of j*******s and you will fail.” “And I helped them (OpenAI) succeed,” Hoffman added.

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He said that Musk is a person who does not like to consult and deal with other people, which is a trait that should not be present in people willing to develop AI. “That’s not how Elon operates, which anyone who has two eyes can see,” Hoffman stated.

Hoffman and Musk’s online spat

Hoffman had earlier said in an X post that Musk’s claims regarding the Tesla protests are “false”. “I never funded anyone for Tesla protests…I don’t condone violence. But it is clear Americans are angry at him – it is easier to explain away their anger than to accept that actions have consequences,” his post read.

Musk had replied asking Hoffman’s favourite island vacation.

Hoffman responded with a graph of Tesla’s stock price and wrote, “I don’t know about islands but here is your least favourite mountain.”

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Tesla stock closed down 15 per cent on Monday, dragging Musk’s net worth down by $29 billion — a 6.7 per cent drop in a single day. Despite the hit, Musk remains the world’s richest person.