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Elon Musk mum on Twitter turmoil at Sun Valley, but he did manage to get a few digs in

July 10, 2022 | | Print Article

Less than 24 hours after delivering the social media-shattering news that he is pulling out of the $44 billion agreement to purchase Twitter, Elon Musk delivered the marquee address at the exclusive Sun Valley conference Saturday, and while the eccentric entrepreneur declined to comment on the imploding deal, he did manage to take a few jabs at the platform for its treatment of former President Donald Trump.

Since 1983, The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference has descended upon Idaho for one week. Described as an annual media finance conference, the gathering is a who’s who of investment, political, tech, and media elites, and cameras are banned from the events.

Musk closed out the exclusive pow-wow and, given his allegations of “false or materially misleading” data from Twitter, many extended their stays in Sun Valley in the hopes of getting the inside skinny straight from the billionaire’s mouth.

For those who did, reports Bloomberg, “it was probably a disappointment.”

Musk stayed mum on the juicy details and instead focused on Mars, the planet he called a “civilian life insurance” policy in the event of a cataclysm on Earth. As he reminded attendees, Mars will be a necessary platform for human life to survive when the sun burns out.

No cameras mean no direct quotes or viral video clips, but it isn’t as though the SpaceX CEO has hidden his vision for colonizing the Red Planet.

In a Wednesday Twitter thread, Musk declared, “Humanity will reach Mars in your lifetime.”

And in getting there, Musk hopes, humanity will at last unite.

“Without a common goal, humanity will fight itself,” he stated. “Moon brought us together in ’69, Mars can do that in the future.”

Ever the optimist, Musk has indicated humans could make it to Mars just seven years from now.

In May, he tweeted, “2029 feels like a pivotal year. I’d be surprised if we don’t have AGI by then. Hopefully, people on Mars too.”

“SpaceX investors were in attendance at the Sun Valley conference, some of whom stayed for Musk’s address,” according to Bloomberg. “The private company’s valuation has surged in its most recent funding round.”

While Musk reportedly dodged questions about the specifics of the Twitter storm due to the lawsuits that are most assuredly coming, he did stress the need for transparency on user data and algorithms, and he once again stated his belief that Twitter’s lifelong ban on former President Trump was excessive and a “time out” would have been more appropriate.

Meanwhile, Trump was trashing Musk at a rally in Alaska, calling the man behind Tesla “another bullsh*t artist” for claiming he’d never voted Republican before but now would be after allegedly telling Trump he’d voted for him.

Still, Musk’s displeasure with the current President has been on full display on Twitter. President Biden’s repeated snubs of Tesla as he pushes hard for green, electric vehicles has led to some snappy exchanges on social media and the self-proclaimed “Techno king” reportedly voiced his unhappiness yet again in Sun Valley.

Melissa Fine
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