Billionaire Tech Magnates: Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are two of the most celebrated and prominent business figures in the world and are often put into the same sentence on account of their intertwined fortunes. But how close is the relationship between the two tech powerhouses? While the schmoozing and charming between Bezos and Musk has certainly been close over the past few years, the two entrepreneurs have had perhaps a more complex relationship than most realize.
Jeff Bezos is best known as the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Amazon. According to Forbes, Bezos is currently the wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $193.4 billion. Musk, meanwhile, is the founder and chief executive officer of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, that have gained one of the most reliable spots in the world of space and transportation. He has a reported worth of $159 billion, according to wealth management institution Wealth-X.
Tracing their relationship as far back as 2010, the root of the relationship between Musk and Bezos appears to have been founded in a joint desire to catalyze the development of the space industry. In 2015, Musk minced no words in praising Bezos, saying “Jeff is a very smart guy and I respect him a lot.” Musk also said in the same 2012 interview with VICE Magazine that the goal of private industry space exploration was “a worthy goal,” and that he had “a lot of respect” for Bezos’ efforts.
That said, the appreciation Musk has for Bezos doesn’t mean that the two tech magnates weren’t competing for the same successes. In a 2014 New York Times report, Abigail Brooks of the Marshall Institute at Harvard estimated that SpaceX was vying for roughly 70% of the global commercial launch market, cutting Bezos out from room to expand his venture.
The competition between Bezos and Musk has been cited widely as a potential source of driving innovation and development in the space exploration industry. Genevieve Serna, a space law professor at George Washington University, noted in an interview with the New York Times that ―Musk and Bezos had been instrumental in the growth of the satellite industry by making launches “cheaper, faster, and more reliable”.
Analyzing The Relationship
Over the years, Bezos and Musk have traded witty comments over their respective companies, never ceasing to mix boundaries between friendly banter and full-throttled rivalry. In 2017, Musk tweeted that the “trick is to elect talented people who don’t bother trying to collect rent,” in response to the ever-growing influence of Amazon. In response to Musk’s Tesla Semi-truck launch in 2018, Bezos tweeted that “amazing job Elon — ridiculous, fast and beautiful.”
The close relationship between these two billionaires has frequently face-planted in the court of public opinion. Last December, for instance, Musk was inundated with backlash after he joked that Amazon should be broken up. While the two have for the past few years presented an image of two tech-aware contemporaries, public disagreements and not mild jabs ten the thin line.
The lack of a lasting friendship between Bezos and Musk reflects the intensified competition between Amazon and Tesla, both of which made incredibly large advances in their respective industries in 2020. While Musk is touting Tesla’s stock-price rise — making it the highest of all publicly traded companies — Bezos is also poised to make a staggering fortune, as Amazon commands a near-monopolizing presence in the E-commerce world.
Though Musk and Bezos remain close colleagues, strained tensions underlying the relationship point to two business elites that are competing for success more than ever before. The back-and-forth play between these two billionaire entrepreneurs likely won’t subside anytime soon; if anything, the competition between them only heightens.
2021 Outlook
The ongoing battle between Bezos and Musk is set to become increasingly heated in 2021. As engineers combat through new technologies and projects among their respective companies, the two will have to navigate through questions such as outselling and overbuilding. For example, as Bezos unveils Amazon’s presence in the autonomous vehicle industry through his firm’s own self-driving car as well as its collaboration with Zoox, Musk’s Tesla will be facing new competition everywhere it turns.
SpaceX is also making ground-breaking advancements in its field of expertise, particularly in the launch of its hugely successful space Falcon 9 launch. Despite the close relationship between Bezos and Musk, both companies will remain competitive and will continue to grow apart. Musk’s decision to expand into no-orbit satellites could also prove to be a big competition for Bezos’ deployment of over 3,200 low-orbit satellites comprising the “Kuiper” program.
The future of the Bezos-Musk relationship remains unclear. Both of their companies are at the cutting edge of their respective industries, yet their rivals’ successes can detract from their own. As 2021 degenerates further into uncertainty and technology progresses rapidly, it’s not certain how long the close relationship between Bezos and Musk can remain.
The Role of Government
The intense competition between Bezos and Musk is playing out in the backdrop of an ever-changing governmental environment. In light of the newly-elected Biden administration, the balance between government and technology could be tipping in Amazon’s favor as Musk predicts his company will soon be facing “unrealistically harsh regulation.”
While many critics consider Bezos advantageous for his close ties to the Biden administration,and his company’s strict lobbying practices, Musk has struck back with letters sent to government representatives responsible for Tesla’s plans. Musk outlines the many benefits of the manufacturing of electric vehicles in terms of jobs, foreign investment, and the expected environmental benefits of clean driving.
Both Bezos and Musk have employed practices to privately influence the government’s policy-making. Their respective achievements in the tech industry also give them increased sway in shaping corporate policy but could trigger more regulation for both companies in the future.
The Impact On Society
The effects of the Bezos-Musk feud have had a wide-reaching influence on the societies of the world. As their companies rapidly deepen their scope and applications, they are reifying new technologies that are changing the world around them.
The influence of Amazon and Tesla is not only found in the realms of software and hardware, but in the social and economic fabric as well. Self-driving cars, space exploration, and energy harvesting are all being revolutionized by the advances of the companies Bezos and Musk founded. Their almost tangible progress is currently driving the future of technology, pushing companies and governments to expand the scope and reach of their initiatives.
The impacts of the two companies are not limited to adults, either. The initiatives of these two entrepreneurs have both supported the growth of STEM education. From the creation of computer science GK-12 trained teachers for students’ learning in lower grades to Space X’s Boosted, which is aimed at helping students learn engineering and science from the ground up, Bezos and Musk’s companies have invested in both the educational and technological growth of the future generations.
Looking At The Big Picture
While the competition between Bezos and Musk has certainly served as a source of innovation, it’s worth noting that their rivalry is part of a broader tech economy. Both Bezos and Musk’s successes are either aided or directly competition with other players in the market such as Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet.
The Bezos-Musk rivalry may be one of the defining technological battles of the 21st century, but it’s not the only one. A number of Big Tech companies are looking to capitalize on their competitive advantage, leading the charge of AI and gene sequencing — two of the most disruptive technologies today.
The competitive landscape between tech and non-tech companies remains to be seen. As Bezos and Musk further dive into their respective projects, the competitive environment around them is sure to sharpen Up ever further. In the end, this could potentially spell success or failure for both tech powerhouses.
Recalibrating Business Strategies
The emergence of Big Tech giants has changed the way companies look at their business strategies. Analysts from Bloomberg predict a future of wild expansion among tech companies. To remain competitive and as profitable as ever, firms such as Amazon and Tesla will need to look for new ways to scale and generate value for stakeholders.
Bezos may be aiming to use Amazon’s user data to build a self-sustaining business model for the 21st century, while Musk is looking to acquire and acquire more customers, but it should be noted that both endeavors are fueled by their competing strategies. As such, it is becoming more and more important for all tech companies to understand their potential competition and develop their own strategies accordingly.
Conclusion
The relationship between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk is one of the defining rivalries in the world of tech. While the two have a close relationship and mutual respect, that proximity can only stretch so far. Ultimately, their rivalry has led to greater achievements and advancements in the space exploration and transport sectors — although they both remain committed to their respective ambitions, the rivalry between them will only grow fiercer in 2021.
