- Billionaire Elon Musk once fought a sumo wrestler, and says he's still paying the price for it.
- "Had a few minutes of glory and 8 years of neck pain," Musk wrote on Sunday.
Elon Musk is still talking about that sumo fight he once had, and it sure sounds like battling a trained wrestler did land Musk in a world of hurt.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was reminiscing about the bout on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday after a user shared a photo of Musk's match.
"Had a few minutes of glory and 8 years of neck pain," Musk wrote.
Had a few minutes of glory and 8 years of neck pain
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 19, 2024
This isn't the first time Musk has brought up his experience dueling a sumo wrestler. In March 2022, the mercurial billionaire challenged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to "single combat" for Ukraine.
When then-Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao expressed doubt at Musk's fighting prowess, Musk proceeded to share a picture of his sumo match. He did not specify when or where the fight took place.
Representatives for Musk didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2022
"Managed to throw him, but it cost me smashing my c5-c6 disc & 8 years of mega back pain! Finally fixed with c5-c6 disc fusion," Musk wrote after he posted the photo.
That said, the experience hasn't caused Musk to swear off future fights.
Back in June, Musk challenged Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to a cage match amid speculation that Zuckerberg was planning to launch a Twitter rival. Meta would launch their text-based social media platform, Threads a month later.
"Send Me Location," Zuckerberg said in an Instagram story when he accepted Musk's challenge.
The face-off, however, did not happen despite months of back and forth between Musk and Zuckerberg. Musk, Zuckerberg said, did not agree to an actual date for the fight with him.
But Musk hasn't forgotten about the cage match just yet.
"If only Zuckerberg were as tough (sigh). I've offered to fight him any place, any time, any rules, but all I hear is crickets," Musk wrote on X last week in response to a satirical news story about a fight between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
To be sure, Musk isn't the only tech titan who has demonstrated a newfound interest in flaunting his physical fitness and masculinity.
For one, Musk's nemesis, Zuckerberg picked up mixed martial arts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides getting shredded, Zuckerberg has also won medals in jiu-jitsu matches.
Likewise for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who's gone from scrawny to swole.
"The obvious conclusion is that I need a *lot* more training," Musk wrote in July after a training session with Canadian UFC legend Georges St-Pierre.