Tech

Elon Musk says he's taking a break from Twitter

elon musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk. AP Photo
Read in app

The tech billionaire Elon Musk, a famously voracious tweeter, has announced to his 35 million followers that he's taking a break from the social-media site.

"Off Twitter for a while," Musk tweeted late Monday without giving any further details.

In the 24 hours before, Musk was tweeting primarily about SpaceX's successful launch of two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on Saturday, and he expressed his opinion that it was "not right" that three police officers involved in the death of George Floyd hadn't been charged.

Musk's Twitter use has gotten him into trouble in the past.

In 2018, his tweets about securing funding for Tesla landed him with a $20 million fine from the Securities and Exchange Commission. As part of the penalty, Musk had to let his tweets about Tesla's business be vetted by a lawyer.

Musk has also gotten into some bizarre feuds over Twitter, including being pulled into a defamation suit he ultimately won after calling a rescue diver "pedo guy."

The billionaire told Bloomberg last month that while in retrospect some of his tweets were "dumb" and he wished he could retract some, he valued being able to communicate with people directly without having to go through the press.

As well as SpaceX having made history by launching astronauts into orbit, Musk also has a newborn baby to look after. Last month Musk and the singer Grimes (real name Claire Boucher) announced the birth of their child, X Æ A-Xii.

Musk has threatened to quit Twitter before. In late 2019, he said he was leaving the service only to resume tweeting three days later.

Read next

Isobel (she/her) was a senior tech reporter at Business Insider. She was particularly interested in Big Tech, privacy, and worker's rights. You can read some of her previous work here: The quest to find $181 million in bitcoin buried in a dump Exclusive: Amazon targeted military spouses in a pandemic recruitment drive. 2 of them say they ended up being paid 33% less than non-military coworkers. Exclusive: Amazon plans a pay cut of up to 23% for hourly workers who guide trucks in and out of its UK delivery stations Exclusive: Tesla's solar division asks employees to scour social media for complaints about both the company and Elon Musk, trying to get customers to delete their posts, former employees say A couple says their Tesla Solar panels caused relentless leaks that led to mold 10 times the healthy limit, $115,000 in damages, and a long-running legal battle Ghosted by Tesla: Customers say Tesla's ultrasleek, expensive Solar Roofs and panels come with nightmare customer service, often leaving them with unanswered calls and emails for months on end Amazon workers leading a historic push for unionization in Alabama describe midnight 'education' meetings, an unexpected mailbox, and streams of anti-union flyers as they go up against one of the world's most powerful companies 'It's a slap in the face': Amazon is handing out 'Thank you' t-shirts to warehouse workers as it cuts their hazard pay Investigation: Amazon warehouse employees speak out about the 'brutal' reality of working during the holidays, when 60-hour weeks are mandatory and ambulance calls are common The science behind Elon Musk's brain-chip company Neuralink Investigation: Instagram's new TV service recommended videos of potential child abuse