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Elon Musk (L); Jeff Bezos | Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty; John Shearer/Getty |
Both billionaires have clashing business interests, which has brought them up against one another on multiple occasions. Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 to focus on commercial spaceflights, while Musk started SpaceX two years later from the proceeds from his sale of PayPal.
It appears the rivalry started when the pair met in person to discuss how to achieve reusable rockets. Musk complained his rival ignored his attempt to give good advice. However, their business rivalry would rise to the surface for the first time in 2013, when SpaceX wanted to retain the exclusive rights to launch from a NASA pad, which Blue Origin kicked against in an official complaint. Bezos wanted the pad open to all launch companies, but Musk called it a blocking tactic. He taunted Blue Origin with its failure to create a reliable suborbital spacecraft. SpaceX won its bid.
The next clash came when Blue Origin tried to patent drone ships used for landing rocket boosters. It was SpaceX's turn to object, and Musk's company again won the round. A court sided with SpaceX, and Blue Origin withdrew most of its claims to the patent.
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| Comparison between SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Nasa. Source: Business Insider (Creative Commons License) |
Sometimes, the rivalry between the two wealthy men spilled onto Twitter, which Musk is attempting to buy. For instance, one time Bezos took to Twitter to praise Blue Origin's reusable rocket landing, Musk could not resist pointing out that his own rocket had completed six suborbital flights three years earlier.
Musk also claimed that Blue Origin was using huge salaries to lure SpaceX employees in an interview. It was severe enough that he made his company set up an email filter for the words "blue" and "origin."
Other times, Musk had poked fun at Bezos, using his age as cannon fodder.
Bezos has not always been as outspoken as Musk, but he has had his fair share of hurling criticism at Musk's company. For instance, he ridiculed Musk's ambition to colonize Mars, asking his rival to spend a year on Mount Everest first.
For instance, one time Bezos took to Twitter to praise Blue Origin's reusable rocket landing, Musk could not resist pointing out that his own rocket had completed six suborbital flights three years earlier.
Perhaps the biggest rivalry was when SpaceX won the contract to build a lunar human landing system for NASA, which Blue Origin also bid for. Bezos' company filed a complaint and a lawsuit, but the contract remained with SpaceX.
The two men have swapped places as the world's richest man multiple times before Musk shot ahead significantly landing Musk's net worth at 218.1 billion USD and Bezos at 132.8 billion USD
However, the Amazon founder has taken time out to praise SpaceX for its milestones and Musk has also returned the favor a few times as well.