How Elon Musk's love affair with Britain turned into a social media war

Back in the summer of 2012 Elon Musk rode through London streets on a boris-bike showing his love for Britain. His net-worth was just $1.5B that year - quite different from todays massive $316.5B fortune

The tech-mogulʼs view of Britain changed dramatically since then. His social-media platform X (bought in late-22) became a place where he often shares non-friendly opinions about UK politics

In mid-24 during UK street problems Musk posted controversial statements about civil unrest being “inevitable“; this led to a head-on clash with Keir Starmerʼs government. The Labour-led parliament wanted to question him about mis-information on X but he refused saying: “They will be summoned to USA to explain their censorship“

Lord Mandelson (who might become UK ambassador in Washington) gave a clear warning: “You cannot pursue these feuds; its unwise to ignore a tech-industrial phenomenon like him“

The south-african born entrepreneur has deep british roots: his nana came from Liverpool and he once married british actress Talulah Riley in Scotland. He used to praise Margaret Thatcher saying “she was like my English Nana“ and even showed support for Rishi Sunak last year

Britain went from dreary to Great again

Now he posts things like “Britain is going full Stalin“ and criticizes UKʼs approach to free-speech. His recent posts about UK include:

• Comments about UK becoming “police state“
• Criticism of british social-media laws
• Warnings about UK migration policies
• Disagreements with Labourʼs economic plans

The relationship got more complex as Musk aligned himself with Donald Trumpʼs team - where several members express doubts about modern Britain. His criticism focuses on social-media rules that might affect his business interests in ways he dont like