After months of slamming the media and saying only idiots believe the press, Twitter CEO Elon Musk finally seems to have found an outlet he likes, judging by how cosy he was with Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch at the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Musk and Murdoch were spotted sitting in the same box at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona by none other than Fox, which was airing the game. The billionaires were joined by Murdoch’s daughter, Elisabeth, a producer and investor who lives in the United Kingdom. Although the cameras remained on Musk and Murdoch only briefly, that was all it took to create a spectacle on air and on social media. Musk previously said he would suspend “any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone.” Good thing it was a TV station showing where he was.
Broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt immediately lavished praise on his boss, his boss’ daughter, and Musk. Then, as if sensing he may have come off like a brown noser, Burkhardt added that Murdoch paid his salary.
“Well, you’ve got some brilliant minds in that photo, Rupert Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch, Elon Musk,” the broadcaster said. “Rupert pays our checks too, so that’s always good.”
Over on Twitter, some users commented that seeing Musk and Murdoch together was not a good sign. MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan pointed out that the image of the two was one to remember the next time Musk went on a rant over elitism and the media.
“Rightwing billionaire media moguls gotta stick together, I guess,” Hasan tweeted. “But remember that image next time you hear Musk pretending to be anti-elitist or anti-Establishment or anti the media, or some kind of populist.”
Others, like Democratic activist Andrew Wortman declared that Musk choosing Murdoch as his Super Bowl watch buddy cemented the Twitter owner’s role as a super villain. Podcast host and producer Cheri Jacobus summed up the hangout succinctly: “Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch at the Super Bowl together. Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
While two billionaires chilling with each other is noteworthy, the internet also tried to figure out what Musk and Murdoch had talked about. Unable to resist talking about himself and/or trolling, the Chief Twit decided to quench the public’s curiosity himself, although it’s not clear if he was serious. Replying to a thread asking for theories — which specified it desired “Wrong answers only” — about what Musk and Murdoch had talked about, Musk gave a one-word answer: Dogecoin.
Dogecoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2023
The Twitter CEO’s answer isn’t surprising. He once proclaimed himself to be the “Dogefather” and has frequently pumped up the memecoin in the past, even acquiescing to accepting the currency as payment for some merchandise at Tesla. Predictably, Musk’s tweet increased dogecoin’s value almost immediately for about two hours, at one point bumping it up 5%, according to Insider.
The Musk bump didn’t last, with dogecoin returning to its previous value by Monday morning. However, it pokes a hole in Musk’s own argument that the content of tweets doesn’t move markets. He might want to remember that the next time he gets sued by shareholders.