Elon Musk offered a Florida teen $5,000 to delete a Twitter account tracking his jet. It wasn't enough
Jack Sweeney, a 19-year-old from Florida, rejected a $5,000 offer from Elon Musk to delete his Twitter account that tracks the billionaire's private jet.
ElonJet
has over 150,000 followers, and uses a bot that Sweeney developed to
monitor Musk's flights. The feed then tweets out when and where the
plane takes off or lands and the duration of each trip.
The
college freshman has developed about a dozen other flight bot accounts
that track the travels of high-profile tech titans, including Bill Gates
and Jeff Bezos.
The initial direct message from Musk came November 30, Protocol first reported.
"Can you take this down?," Musk asked Sweeney. "It's a security risk."
The
Tesla and SpaceX CEO eventually offered the teenager $5,000 to help
prevent "crazy people" from tracking his flights. Sweeney countered
asking for $50,000, saying he could use the money for college and maybe a
Tesla (TSLA) Model 3.
"I don't love the idea of being shot by a nutcase," Musk said.
The
last message exchange was Wednesday, Jan. 19, when Musk said it didn't
feel right "to pay to shut this down." CNN Business has viewed the
messages.
"Options
other than remuneration like an internship would make taking it down a
lot easier," Sweeney replied. Musk has not yet responded.
CNN has reached out to SpaceX for comment.
Sweeney
said he's been a fan of SpaceX since the first Falcon Heavy launch in
2018. His father works for an airline, fueling his interest in aviation.
"5,000 is not enough for how much I get out of it," Sweeney said. "It doesn't replace anything, like the enjoyment factor."
Sweeney
did offer Musk some technical advice, telling the billionaire about a
blocking program he could use to counter flight tracking programs.
"It looks like he took that advice," Sweeney said, saying it appears Musk is currently using the blocking program.
So
is Sweeney is still able to track Musk's flights despite the blocking
program? "I am," Sweeney said. "It's just a bit more complicated."
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