- YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley mad a sarcastic jab at Elon Musk this week, sparking an immediate response from Musk.
- “The axis of ego @realDonaldTrump @kanyewest @elonmusk is pretty quiet tonight,” Hurley tweeted early Thursday morning.
- Musk immediately responded, telling Hurley to “stop being a chad,” an internet slang term used primarily by the involuntary celibate community to describe attractive men who are successful with women.
- Hurley said in follow-up tweets that he was being sarcastic and that it’s “so easy to troll fanboys,” likely referring to Musk’s legion of diehard fans.
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YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley made a jab at Elon Musk this week when he tweeted that Musk is part of the “axis of ego.”
Hurley, who founded YouTube along with Steve Chen in 2005, posted about Musk early Thursday morning, likening him to President Donald Trump and Kanye West.
—Chad Hurley 🇹🇩 (@Chad_Hurley) November 5, 2020
Musk immediately responded to Hurley’s tweet, posting “Uh … Chad wtf” one minute later, then telling him to “Stop being a chad,” an internet slang term used to describe attractive men who are successful with women. The term was made popular by the involuntary celibate community, or incels.
Hurley made it clear in subsequent tweets that he was being sarcastic and responded to one of Musk’s defenders that he was drunk when he tweeted it. He said in a tweet later on Thursday that it’s “so easy to troll fanboys on this site,” likely referring to Musk’s well-publicized legion of fans.
Musk is known for being outspoken on Twitter, particularly throughout the coronavirus crisis, when he has promoted unproven treatments and disputed the need for lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus, which mirrored some of Trump’s public statements.
Musk also initially supported West's bid for the presidency: The two moguls are longtime friends, and West said Musk was one of his advisers, though Musk later walked back his support and said "2024 would be better."
Hurley cofounded YouTube and served as the company's first CEO. After YouTube was acquired by Google for $1.65 billion in 2006, Hurley stayed on as CEO until 2010, officially leaving Google in 2011. These days, he's an investor as well as the cofounder of GreenPark Sports, a digital sports company that makes a mobile game. Hurley is also a part-owner of the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Football Club.