Did Elon Musk Say ‘It’s Time To Put Bill Gates in Prison’?

On Aug. 27, 2023, SpaceXMania published an article positing that Elon Musk had suggested Bill Gates be put in jail. They claimed that Musk made the jab at Gates while speaking to him directly at an event titled “Billionaire Banter: The Future of Tech.” After a brief back and forth, Musk supposedly said: “Well, Bill, maybe it’s time you faced some real challenges. How about a stint in jail? I think orange would look great on you.”

The article began:

Elon Musk: “It’s Time To Put Bill Gates In Prison”

In an unexpected twist in the billionaire saga that has captivated audiences for years, Elon Musk, the audacious CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, recently made headlines by suggesting that tech magnate Bill Gates deserves some time behind bars. Was it over monopolizing the personal computer market? Or perhaps due to a disagreement on whose rockets are fancier? Well, as the details unfold, it’s evident that the stakes have never been this humorous.

While Gates and Musk have crossed paths in the past, after first meeting in March 2022, this interaction never happened and the details of the article are not a factual recounting of real-life events. The article originated with a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature, as follows:

On Oct. 27, SpaceXMania posted the article on their Facebook, and it quickly gained almost 6,000 likes at the time of this writing. “It’s time for both of you to go to prison,” commented one user.

For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.