'Eccentric' Musk Tweets Attack at Bezos: "Amazon Must Disappear"

Author Berenson's Book on COVID-19

Controversy Over Amazon Sales Ban

"Crazy... Monopoly is Wrong"

Is This a Check on Bezos Amid the Space Race?

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jaehee] 'Eccentric CEO' Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, targeted Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, with a provocative tweet saying, "Amazon must disappear." Musk, who gained fame with SpaceX's successful launch, once again took aim at Bezos, seen as a rival in the space race.

On the 4th (local time), Musk tweeted, "It's time to break up with Amazon," adding, "Monopoly is wrong." He further directed at Bezos, saying, "This is crazy."

Musk's sudden tweet attack came after Amazon banned sales of a book by Alex Berenson, a former New York Times writer. Berenson was set to publish a book titled 'The Unreported Truth About the COVID-19 Virus and Lockdowns,' but Amazon blocked it, citing that the book's content did not comply with their guidelines. Amid the controversy, Amazon stated that the ban was due to a system error and that the book is currently available for purchase through the Kindle e-reading service. They also added that this was unrelated to Musk's criticism.

Although the incident has been settled for now, considering the increasing overlap between Tesla and Amazon's business areas, Musk's offensives may become more frequent. Amazon, an e-commerce company, has been entering new business fields such as electric cargo vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and space travel?most of which are also areas Musk is involved in.

Last December, Amazon invested $1.3 billion in Rivian, an electric vehicle startup competing with Tesla, and placed an order for 100,000 electric vans from Rivian, intensifying the rivalry between the two CEOs. Bezos is actively investing in autonomous and electric vehicles to reduce transportation costs and carbon emissions. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January this year, Amazon announced plans to collaborate with Lamborghini and others in manufacturing autonomous vehicles. Recently, Musk's success in launching the first private manned spacecraft has further provoked Bezos.

This is not the first time Musk has attacked Bezos via Twitter. In November 2015, when Bezos-led space travel company Blue Origin successfully developed and launched its New Shepard spacecraft, Musk posted a belittling tweet. In May last year, when Blue Origin introduced its lunar lander 'Blue Moon,' Musk immediately mocked it on Twitter by calling 'Blue Moon' 'Blue Balls.'

Their competition is expected to unfold in space. SpaceX, led by Musk, recently succeeded in launching the manned spacecraft 'Crew Dragon,' which is seen as opening the era of private space travel. On the other hand, Blue Origin is considered more advantageous in popularizing space travel. Blue Origin charges $200,000 to $300,000 (approximately 250 million to 350 million KRW) for experiencing the suborbital region just beyond the boundary between space and Earth, whereas SpaceX prices its Earth orbit flight products at a minimum of several million dollars.