The rivalry between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos took a new turn last week when a lawsuit between the two fell in Musk's favor.
On Thursday, Bezos' Blue Origin spaceflight company lost the suit it filed to prevent NASA from doing business with Musk and his SpaceX aerospace company. Nobody seemed happier than Musk.
So much so the CEO immediately took to Twitter to troll Bezos with a meme.
See the post below.
pic.twitter.com/deqktTvS3U
— Lorde Edge (@elonmusk) November 4, 2021
The lawsuit decision is the culmination of a battle the two CEOs have been engaged in since April.
Bezos' and Musk's respective spaceflight companies have been vying with each other for a NASA contract to handle its Human Landing System program, which will bring astronauts to the moon as part of NASA's forthcoming Artemis missions.
NASA awarded the $2.9 billion contract to Musk's SpaceX in April and Bezos immediately struck back. After first filing a complaint with the US Government Accountability Office, Bezos then sued, claiming NASA wrongfully awarded the contract and ignored key safety concerns in the process.
Federal Judge Richard Hertling disagreed and sided with Musk and SpaceX.
Musk being Musk, he took to Twitter to throw a bit of mockery at his rival, using a meme from the 1995 action film Judge Dredd in which Sylvester Stallone stars as the ultimate street-justice warrior in a dystopian Earth of the future.
On Twitter, Musk's outspoken fan club relished his dig at Bezos.
Now Jeff Bezos can get back to fighting his true enemy: Superman.
— OnyxQuill4583 (@quill4583) November 4, 2021
Starship Wars – Revenge of the Smith
SpaceX: "It's over Blue, I won the contract."
BO: "You underestimate my lawyers!" 😡
SpaceX: "Don't try it!"
BO: 🔥🔥😫🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/M9bGJGOFDH
— Renata Konkoly 🐢🦔 (@RenataKonkoly) November 4, 2021
Sue Origin cries in Prime
— •K10•✨ (@Kristennetten) November 4, 2021
🥶 pic.twitter.com/9hmE9qxtqZ
— 𝔇𝔞𝔫𝔞 🦃 (@daelmor) November 4, 2021
This is how Mt. Rushmore will look on Mars! @elonmusk #DaddyDoge #DD2M pic.twitter.com/4WIvZ8HIB9
— dinemom (@dinemom1) November 4, 2021
🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/dOPpfObPH6
— AcademyX (@indusraven) November 4, 2021
But not everyone was amused by two men with enough money to instantaneously solve several of the world's biggest problems locking horns on the internet.
It would be so cool if Bezos and Musk put the same competitive, pissing contest energy into which one was going to shift (not end) world hunger first, instead of whatever the hell *this* version is where they're playing games and acting like 42 million people *aren't* starving.
— Arlan 👊🏾 (@ArlanWasHere) November 7, 2021
How about we don't give either of these billionaires millions of our taxpayer money. Ridiculous.
— Nicki (@NikkiInDC) November 5, 2021
Musk & Bezos need a lesson in humanity from this man. pic.twitter.com/FFHIexNSni
— JakeMusc96 (@Musc96) November 7, 2021
Would I get in trouble for tagging Musk and Bezos? pic.twitter.com/QGTJ9IG4Xm
— Archbishop Dr. DM, Kwisatz Haderach (@STILLWATERSRU14) November 4, 2021
This isn't the first time Musk and Bezos have traded barbs.
The two men are said to have been arch rivals for almost 20 years, since the founding of Blue Origin and SpaceX in 2000 and 2002, respectively, and have shaded each other over everything from patent races to Musk's overtaking Bezos as the richest man in the world.
@huntichon/X
@bigugly/X
@JonCowboyBear/X
@TommyJerry4000/X