Jeff Bezos said he would “love the idea” of forging a friendship with Elon Musk despite a history of being criticized by the Tesla mogul and rival in the space race.
Bezos was asked his thoughts about Musk — who once said the Amazon founder needed to work harder and spend “less time in the hot tub” — during an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman released Thursday.
“Well, I don’t really know Elon very well,” Bezos said.
“I know his public persona but I also know you can’t know anyone by their public persona — it’s impossible. You may think you do, but I guarantee you don’t.”
Bezos praised Musk’s stewardship of his various companies, including electric car maker Tesla, and SpaceX — the firm that has proven to be Bezos’ top competition to his Blue Origin in the aerospace industry.
“Judging by the results, he must be a very capable leader,” Bezos said of Musk.
“There’s no way you can have Tesla and SpaceX without being a capable leader. It’s impossible.”
When Fridman suggested that the two men should spend time together and forge a “friendship that would inspire the entirety of humanity,” Bezos replied: “I agree with you and I think with a lot of these endeavors we’re very like-minded.”
“So I think, I’m not saying we’re identical, but we’re very like-minded so I love that idea.”
The Post has sought comment from Musk.
Musk currently boasts the world’s biggest net worth. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the South African-born mogul has a fortune valued at $231 billion.
Bezos, the founder of e-retailer Amazon, is the third wealthiest person in the world with a fortune valued at $172 billion.
Musk has used his social media platform formerly known as Twitter to take jabs at Bezos.
After Musk’s SpaceX beat out Blue Origin for a $2.9 billion contract from NASA to build a lunar lander, Musk wrote: “Can’t get it up (to orbit) lol.”
In the summer of 2021, Bezos sued the federal government over NASA’s decision to go with SpaceX, prompting Musk to chime in on social media.
“If lobbying & lawyers could get u to orbit, Bezos would be on Pluto rn,” Musk wrote.
Last year, Musk took a swipe at Bezos over Amazon’s release of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” declaring that author J.R.R. Tolkien was “turning in his grave.”
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