Vinod Khosla Snaps Back At Elon Musk’s ‘Pompous’ Taunt: ‘Maybe Not Tweet Seemingly Racist Stuff’

Last Updated:January 29, 2026, 03:02 IST

Khosla pushed back after Musk dragged his family into the dispute, urging him to rethink comments on race and defending himself against personal attacks.

Indian-US businessman Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, speaks during the Hill & Valley Forum at the US Capitol Visitor Center Auditorium in Washington, DC. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla escalated his ongoing social media spat with Elon Musk, pushing back against Musk’s personal attacks and urging him to reconsider what Khosla described as “seemingly racist" public commentary on race and demographics.

In a lengthy post on X, Khosla took issue with Musk dragging his family into the dispute after the Tesla and SpaceX chief cited his partner’s Indian heritage and his son’s name to rebut accusations of racial bias. “Instead of bringing your family into it, maybe try not tweeting ‘seemingly’ racist stuff next time?" Khosla wrote, adding that many would appreciate Musk clarifying that he was not trying to “establish a white society in America".

Khosla said Musk’s repeated remarks about declining white birth rates and demographic shifts had created the impression of a racial agenda, referencing his earlier jibe that Musk was pushing “WAGA" — White America Great Again — rather than Donald Trump’s MAGA slogan. He said acknowledging that racism was not driving those views would go some way towards defusing criticism.

The exchange followed Musk’s sharp personal attack earlier this week, in which he accused Khosla of trying to block public access to a beach near his California home and used abusive language to dismiss his criticism. Musk had also pointed to his relationship with Shivon Zilis, who is of Indian origin, and said his son was named in honour of Indian-American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, in an attempt to counter accusations of racial prejudice.

Addressing the beach dispute directly, Khosla defended his actions, saying Musk had misrepresented the facts of a long-running legal battle over Martin’s Beach in Half Moon Bay. Khosla said he was standing up for the principle of private property rights rather than attempting to privatise a public beach.

“Every court ruling in the Friends of Martin’s Beach case, including all appeals, so far reaffirms there has never been free access to the beach through private property," Khosla wrote, adding that only paid parking access had existed even though the beach itself was public. He said courts had also declined to give him a hearing on his petition to close a gate on the access road, leaving the matter unresolved for years.

“Anything else is communism," Khosla added, doubling down on his defence of property rights while criticising what he described as regulatory overreach by California’s Coastal Commission.

Despite the pointed tone, Khosla ended his post on a note that mixed sarcasm with reluctant praise. “Unfortunately I have no proof to refute your claim that I am a pompous asshole and retarded," he wrote, before adding: “I have said publicly I do admire your extraordinary entrepreneurial skills."

The latest exchange builds on an earlier round of sparring that began after Musk reposted a claim that white people were becoming a rapidly diminishing share of the global population, a comment that drew widespread backlash online. Khosla’s response at the time accused Musk of normalising racial politics, while Musk has framed his remarks as demographic observations rather than ideology.

News world Vinod Khosla Snaps Back At Elon Musk’s ‘Pompous’ Taunt: ‘Maybe Not Tweet Seemingly Racist Stuff’

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