Elon Musk on Washington Post hit piece: ‘Give my regards to your puppet master’

"[Critics] say the rigors of Musk's personal schedule, and the seeming cult of personality that has developed around him, are beginning to show in the car company he runs," the article reads. "Musk... is drowning in outside commitments like his aerospace company and other endeavors while letting quality — and strategy — at Tesla fall victim."

However, when the author reached out to Musk for comment, the billionaire entrepreneur was not overly cooperative.

"Give my regards to your puppet master," Musk responded.

The comment is a reference to Washington Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who purchased the paper for $250 million in 2013. Both Bezos and the paper have repeatedly insisted that despite Bezos's ownership, he has no influence over editorial decisions.

Musk surpassed in wealth last month to acquire the title of world's richest man. Bezos has once again surpassed Musk after a fall in Tesla's stock price.

Musk is not the only prominent individual to have criticized the Washington Post over its ownership. During the 2020 American presidential election, then-President Donald Trump repeatedly described the paper as "fake news" which acts, in effect, as lobbyists for Amazon.

It is also not the first time Musk has taken jabs at Bezos. In the past, Musk has mocked Bezos for his age, accused him of copying his ideas with his rocket company Blue Origin, and has criticized Amazon as a monopoly.

Musk has also accused Bezos of attempting to "stifle competition" in the satellite industry. "It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation," Musk said in a January tweet.

Bezos has also taken to criticizing Musk in the past, describing his vision of putting men on Mars as "unmotivating."