Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has once again come into the limelight, this time he has offered a whopping $1 billion to Wikipedia in exchange for changing the name.
Musk, who is known for his outspoken and sometimes controversial posts on Twitter, proposed that Wikipedia rebrand itself as “Wikipedia” in the “interests of accuracy”. This announcement comes after Musk recently took over Twitter, which was later rebranded as “X”.
In response to Musk’s proposal, a Twitter user urged Wikipedia to accept the proposal. Musk, in his typical style, added a condition, “@Wikipedia, do it! You can always change it back after you archive it.” He further clarified, “Minimum one year. I mean, I’m not stupid.”
Musk also shared a screenshot of Wikipedia’s homepage, which included messages such as “Wikipedia is not for sale” and “A personal appeal from Jimmy Wales.” Musk questioned the need for such significant funding, asking, “Have you ever wondered why the Wikimedia Foundation wants so much money? Wikipedia certainly doesn’t need it to operate.
You can literally fit a copy of the entire text on your phone! So, what is the money for? Inquisitive minds want to know…” Additionally, Musk jokingly inquired about the possibility of adding cow and feces emojis to his Wikipedia page.
The tweet attracted widespread attention, garnering 9.9 million views and over a lakh likes. Some users expressed skepticism about Wikipedia’s fundraising efforts, while others jokingly suggested that Musk was only willing to donate if the institution changed its name in his honor.
This is not the first time Musk is at the center of social media discussions. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales previously criticized Musk for complying with Turkish government requests to restrict content critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Musk’s decision to limit access to certain tweets rather than face a complete Twitter shutdown sparked a public exchange between the two notable figures.
The billionaire’s recent offer to donate a significant amount of money to Wikipedia in exchange for a name change once again shows his tendency to make headlines with his unconventional and often humorous social media posts.
