Jeffrey Epstein’s shadow continues to loom over the tech world as Elon Musk and Reid Hoffman engage in a war of words on X. Musk kicked off the exchange by claiming that Epstein unsuccessfully used Hoffman’s name to lure him into his circle. Hoffman, however, dismissed this narrative as a “disgusting” excuse, alleging that Musk was actually “begging” to visit the island and was searching for high-profile parties.
What did Elon Musk tweet?
“This is how I knew so long ago that Reid Hoffman went to Epstein’s island. Epstein used Reid being there to try to get me to go, not realizing that it would have the opposite effect,” he shared, along with a screenshot.
How did Reid Hoffman respond?
The LinkedIn co-founder lashed out at Musk, accusing him of trying to cover up his involvement with Epstein.
“Give us a break: If you cared about the victims as you say, you’d stop making false accusations to cover your ass and start using your $220m of influence with President Trump to get justice for the victims,” Hoffman tweeted.
He continued, “Instead, you’re focused on comparing my visit fundraising for MIT to your begging to go to his island (which happened TWO YEARS before the screenshot you shared), and helicoptering over to Epstein looking for the “wildest party.” You lied about this to everyone for over a decade, and now your excuse (it’s disgusting, by the way) is that you could get young girls without Epstein?”
Elon Musk and Reid Hoffman feud:
Though Elon Musk was the CEO of PayPal and Hoffman was its chief operating officer more than 20 years ago, their political and cultural paths diverged after the company was sold to eBay.
The online feud between the duo began when Musk linked Reid Hoffman’s name to the Epstein files.
While appearing on Eric Newcomer’s podcast last December, the LinkedIn co-founder revealed that he once spent a night on Epstein’s island, but added that it was in connection with MIT fundraising efforts.
Earlier, in another 2025 interview with BBC Radio 4, he addressed his feud with Elon Musk, calling it “one-sided”.
“Well, so actually, it’s more his beef with me for having made OpenAI successful with his departure,” Hoffman said. “Because he left saying, you know, ‘You’re all a bunch of jackasses and you’ll fail,’ and I helped them succeed.”