A teenager who’s been tracking and tweeting Elon Musk’s private jet flights refused the billionaire’s US$5,000 offer to take it down, according to a CNN Business report.
Jack Sweeney, a 19-year old college freshman, manages the Twitter account Elon Musk’s Jet (@ElonJet) that monitors the Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO’s private jet: locations of take-off and landing and the duration of each flight. He uses a bot that feeds on the open-source flight data from ADS-B Exchange.
In an initial report, Musk directly messaged Sweeney asking to take the account down, saying “[it’s] a security risk.” Eventually, the SpaceX CEO offered US$5,000 to delete the account and prevent “crazy people” from tracking his flights. Sweeney asked US$50,000 instead, saying the money can be for his college or a Tesla Model 3.
Eventually, Musk reportedly messaged that it didn’t feel right “to pay to shut this down.”
“$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 said he offered Musk some technical advice to counter flight tracking programs, which the billionaire seems to have taken. Still, he continues to track the flight details of Musk’s private jet.
Aside from Musk’s private jet, Sweeney also tracks the flights of other SpaceX jets and other billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
Information for this briefing was found via CNN. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
