The feud between Silicon Valley billionaires Vinod Khosla and Elon Musk is showing no signs of cooling down. Continuing his jibe over what he called a racist comment by Musk, Khosla on Wednesday said, “Maybe try not tweeting ‘seemingly’ racist stuff next time?”
In a lengthy post on X, Khosla, an Indian-origin entrepreneur and founder of Khosla Ventures, was responding to Musk’s explanation in which he tried to defend himself against accusations of racism.
After Khosla called out Musk over a racist comment in one of his earlier posts, Musk said his partner is half Indian and that his son is named after Indian physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
Responding to Khosla’s initial criticism, Musk wrote, “Vinod, you’re not just such a pompous asshole that you tried to stop the public from using a public beach near your house, you’ve also gone full retard… My partner, Shivon, is half Indian, and my eldest son with her is named in honour of the great Indian physicist Chandrasekhar.”
Musk’s partner, Shivon Alice Zilis, is a Canadian technology executive and venture capitalist. She was born to a Punjabi Indian mother and a Canadian father. Musk’s eldest son with Zilis is named Strider Sekhar, paying tribute to Chandrasekhar.
What’s the latest?
In his latest comment, Khosla said, “Instead of bringing your family into it, maybe try not tweeting ‘SEEMINGLY’ racist stuff next time? Many would appreciate it if you acknowledge that you are not trying to establish a white society in America, are not WAGA, and that racism isn’t behind your many laments around white birth rates, declining percentage of the population, and similar concerns.”
“Unfortunately, I have no proof to refute your claim that I am a pompous asshole and retarded. I have said publicly that I admire your extraordinary entrepreneurial skills,” he added.
Long-standing feud between Musk and Khosla
In his latest post, Khosla also commented on the long-running beach dispute between the two billionaires. He wrote, “As to the beach issue, you’d appreciate me standing up to the principle of defending the principle of private property instead of giving in to whatever the Coastal Commission wants.”
“Every court ruling in the Friends of Martins Beach case, including all appeals so far, reaffirms there has never been free access to the beach through private property—only paid access for parking—though the beach is public property, which I’ve never denied. Anything else is communism,” he added.
The clash between Musk and Khosla partly stems from a long-running legal battle over access to Martins Beach in California. Khosla owns land next to the beach and has for years tried to limit public access to the shoreline, leading to lawsuits and public criticism that he is blocking what many consider a public resource.
In 2024, Musk posted a seemingly altered image of a sign on a beach that read, “No plebs allowed. Property of Vinod Khosla,” referencing the 16-year-long legal battle over access to Martins Beach. Khosla had then demanded an apology.
What started the feud between Musk and Khosla?
On January 27, Khosla responded to a September 2025 post by Musk, writing that “@elonmusk doesn’t want MAGA, he wants WAGA or ‘white America great again’ as a ‘racism is great and desirable’ paradigm.”
What racial comment did Musk make?
In his September 2025 post, Musk shared content stating that in 1900, white people made up 36 per cent of the world’s population, while today the figure is around 8 per cent. Musk wrote, “White people are a rapidly diminishing minority of the global population.”
This drew a sharp reaction from Khosla, who even invited applications from Musk’s non-white employees. “All non-whites in @Tesla, @SpaceX, @X, etc, and all decent whites should quit and join our portfolio. Email us your LinkedIn,” he wrote.
 "Inside the feud between Musk and Khosla over 'racism': Where it started")
