Elon Musk’s Wikipedia page has been locked for editing after the eccentric Tesla CEO encouraged people to “trash” him on the site. Unsurprisingly, plenty of his followers decided to take him up on the offer.
“History is written by the victors … except on Wikipedia,” Musk tweeted on Sunday.
In a follow-up tweet, Musk told his more than 37 million followers to go forth and “trash” him on the site, which typically allows anyone to edit its pages.
Please trash me on Wikipedia, I’m begging you
“All major wars, diseases and financial disasters of the last century can be directly attributed to Mr. Musk or one of his companies,” one user edited the page to say, before sending the update straight to Musk, who signaled his approval with a laughing face emoji.
??
A couple of other edits added “rapper” and “playboy” to the billionaire’s resume.
Didn’t know you were a rapper?? pic.twitter.com/liGza0ryWC
Musk’s Wikipedia page was quickly locked by the company, which limited changes to only editors approved by the site itself. A note appeared for those still trying to make edits that the page was now “protected to prevent vandalism,” leaving many of Musk’s followers slightly disappointed.
No can do ??They got your all locked down ⛓ ? pic.twitter.com/GXokCHAUPm
Though he did not share why exactly he wanted people to digitally vandalize his Wikipedia page, Musk has expressed disappointment with the site and its accuracy, especially in regards to him, in the past.
“Just looked at my wiki for 1st time in years. It’s insane! Btw, can someone please delete ‘investor.’ I do basically zero investing,” Musk tweeted in 2019.
Musk argued that the “investor” label made his position with his companies, Tesla and SpaceX, look different. He argued his wealth is exclusively tied to those companies, and if they go bankrupt, so does he.
If Tesla & SpaceX go bankrupt, so will I. As it should be.
During that tirade against Wikipedia, Musk approved of a suggestion to edit his page to describe him as a “business magnet” instead of a “business magnate.” The edit was quickly made, with “as requested by Elon Musk” added to the page’s history.
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