Business | Punch-up in the public square

The Musk-Zuckerberg social-media smackdown

With Threads, a copycat app, Meta hopes to capitalise on Twitter’s travails

Twitter log entangled with new Thread log — Image: Vincent Kilbride

Jul 4th 2023

In one corner is Mark Zuckerberg: 39 years old, five foot seven inches and, if his selfies are to be believed, a wizard at jiu-jitsu. In the other corner stands Elon Musk: 13 years older, six inches taller and considerably heavier, with a special move known as the walrus (“I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing”). The two billionaires have agreed to a cage fight, with Mr Musk saying on June 29th that it might take place at the Roman Colosseum.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Social-media smackdown”