Elon Musk’s brief encounter with Steve Jobs ended abruptly after the Apple co-founder was “super rude” to him

Elon Musk is definitely a big deal these days – not just in tech or business, but pretty much everywhere. It feels like there’s always something new popping up about him, whether it’s his thoughts on the US vs. China in the AI race, his gaming skills (or lack thereof), or dramas like the one with Reddit’s CEO or his hot takes on Assassin’s Creed Shadows. But let’s rewind to a time before he was the household name he is now, when he crossed paths with another tech legend and, well… let’s just say it didn’t go all that smoothly.

The rocky history between Elon Musk and Apple

Elon Musk once recalled in an interview his short interaction with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The encounter took place at a party where Larry Page (Google co-creator) introduced Musk to Jobs. However, the meeting didn’t go well.

Musk mentioned that Jobs was “super rude,” suggesting that Jobs may have dismissed him or didn’t realize who he was at the time. But despite the awkward and unfriendly exchange, Musk didn’t hold a grudge. In the same interview, he praised Steve Jobs as a visionary and a pioneer in technology, saying he created “great products” and had an inspiring charisma, or as Musk put it, a certain “magic about him.” He also made it clear he wasn’t trying to stir up drama and chose not to go into further detail about that moment.

But a lot of time has passed since that interview, and even more after Musk and Jobs actually met. Since then, Musk has taken a few public shots at Apple. At one point, he called it the “Tesla Graveyard,” joking that Apple scoops up people who didn’t make it at Tesla. He made that comment around the time when Apple was working on its own electric car, which Musk wasn’t exactly optimistic about.

More recently, he’s slammed Apple for teaming up with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT into Siri, calling it an “unacceptable security violation” and casting doubt on Apple’s ability to keep user data safe. He even said he might ban Apple devices from his companies if it turns into a real security risk.

All in all, there’s been some ongoing friction between Musk and Apple – part personal, part professional, and very much in the public eye.

• Apple
• Steve Jobs
• Elon Musk
• Tesla