Vinod Khosla accuses Elon Musk of racism in fresh X spat

The social media spat between tech tycoons Elon Musk and Vinod Khosla refuses to die down, with Khosla this time asking the Tesla chief of trying not to post “seemingly” racist remarks on social media. The retort comes after Musk got into a verbal feud with Khosla over racism and pointed out that his partner Shaven Zills was of Indian heritage.

Khosla’s ‘racism jibe at Musk’

Lashing out at Musk, Khosla stated that it would be much appreciated if the SpaceX CEO made it clear that he was not advocating the setting up of a white society in the US.

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"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," stated Khosla in a post on X. He is a co-founder of Sun Microsystems.

The WAGA flashpoint

The spat escalated after Khosla accused Musk of attempting to normalise racism through the slogan WAGA (White America Great Again). Musk countered by pointing to his personal life as evidence that he rejected the charge.

The Tesla chief said his partner, Shivon Zills, is half Indian, noting that her mother is of Punjabi descent and her father is Canadian. He added that their eldest son had been named after Indian-American physicist and Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.-

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Musk also dragged a long-running legal dispute into the argument, referring to Khosla’s battle with California authorities over Martins Beach and accusing Khosla in a post on X of trying “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 added.

Khosla’s ‘private property’ argument

Khosla, in his response, defended his position on the beach dispute, arguing that Musk had misunderstood the case entirely. He said Musk should recognise that he was standing up for private property rights rather than bowing to pressure from regulators, reported India Today.

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“As to the beach issue, you'd appreciate me standing up to the principle of defending ‘the principal of private property’ instead of giving in to whatever the Coastal Commission wants,” Khosla wrote.

He added that court rulings in the Friends of Martin Beach case had consistently found there was no free public access through private land, only paid parking access, even though the beach itself is public property.

The ‘communism’ jibe

“Anything else is communism,” Khosla said, before explaining that courts had denied his petition to close a gate because the California Coastal Commission had not formally ruled on the matter.

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“Unfortunately, I have no proof to refute your claim that I am a pompous asshole and retarded,” he added, while also saying publicly that he admired Musk’s “extraordinary entrepreneurial skills.”

Khosla bought two beachfront properties in California in 2008, including the disputed Martins Beach. Musk’s remarks referred to multiple lawsuits filed by the investor that sought to restrict public access to the stretch of coastline near his home.

The backdrop

The exchange is the latest chapter in an on-again, off-again feud between the two men that has played out for months online. In the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election, Musk-a vocal supporter of Republican Donald Trump who appeared at several campaign events-publicly urged Khosla to back a political candidate. Khosla declined, saying he could not support anyone he believed lacked values or held anti-immigrant views.

Khosla has also taken aim at Musk over his legal fight with OpenAI, a company Musk co-founded before later exiting. The investor has brushed off Musk’s lawsuit against the firm, suggesting it was driven by frustration over losing control of the company’s direction.