Elon Musk is now sparring with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla after the billionaire accused the Tesla CEO of racism and allegedly tried to poach some of his top talent. Musk responded to the controversy by name-calling Khosla while pointing out that his partner is half Indian and that one of his sons is named after an Indian physicist.
Why are Vinod Khosla and Elon Musk sparring?
The controversy began after Khosla responded to a September 2025 post by Musk in which the billionaire claimed that “White people are a rapidly diminishing minority of the global population.”
Khosla responded to the post, alleging racism on the part of the X owner and claimed that Musk was not propagating “Make America Great Again” but instead “white America great again.”
“@elonmusk doesn’t want MAGA, he wants WAGA or ‘white America great again’ as a ‘racism is great and desirable’ paradigm. All non-whites in @tesla, @SpaceX, @X etc and all decent whites should quit and join our portfolio. Email us your LinkedIn!” Khosla wrote.
Meanwhile, Musk once again claimed that Khosla had tried to stop the public from using a public beach near his house, an allegation he has also made in the past. The billionaire appears to be referring to Khosla’s multiple lawsuits over restricting public access to Martins Beach near his estate.
“Vinod, you’re not just such a pompous asshole that you tried to stop the public from using a public beach near your house, you’ve also gone full retard. My partner, Shivon, is half Indian and my eldest son with her is named in honor of the great Indian physicist Chandrasekhar,” Musk wrote.
The two billionaires have a history of clashing on social media over various issues. During the 2024 US elections, Musk had urged Khosla to support Donald Trump. In response, Khosla said it was hard for him to support someone “with no values, lies, cheats, rapes, demeans women, hates immigrants like me.”
Khosla, who is among the first institutional backers of OpenAI, has also defended the ChatGPT maker against Musk’s lawsuits, stating that Musk suing OpenAI feels like “sour grapes.” Khosla added that Musk did not get in early enough in the AI race and did not stay committed, which is why he is now resorting to litigation.
