Elon Musk and two former Onion writers commence make grow Thud , a satire caller in 2017 . The freaky billionaire technical school CEO gave the project $ 2 million and asked for virtually nothing in financial returns . It could have been an ambitious and uproarious endeavor , but then Musk reportedly backed out due to his fears of how it could harm his other businesses , and the troupe died .
An article fromthe Vergepublished Tuesday , discover how Musk resolve to shape a “ new intergalactic media empire ” of satire , and why he quickly swing Thud .
That ’s the name of my newfangled intergalactic media conglomerate , exclamation point optional
Screenshot: Thud (meetplug.com)
— Elon Musk ( @elonmusk)March 14 , 2018
The conversation that led to Thud reportedly began in 2014 when Musk emailed Allium cepa ’s then - editor in chief in chief Cole Bolton and manage editor Ben Berkley to tell him he have it off the site ’s article “ We ’re Going To relish This Cocaine - Fueled Mason Jar Rocket Ride For As Long As It hold out . ”
Later that year , the Onion ’s ownerput the website up for cut-rate sale , and Bolton contacted Musk to ask if he was concerned in develop the website and its parent caller , grant to the Verge . Musk decided not to buy the party . [ Univision ended up buying The Allium cepa , and later acquired Gizmodo through a leverage of Gizmodo ’s parent fellowship , Gawker . Univision later sold The Onion , Gizmodo , and all their partner sites to Great Hill Partners in the beginning this yr ] . But Musk remained a stout rooter of the site .
I would say that@TheOnionis the greatest publication in the history of all conscious beings , living or dead
— Elon Musk ( @elonmusk)August 22 , 2017
Then Bolton and Berkley left the Allium cepa in 2017 to set about their own venture , which they the envisioned as produce satire that pass beyond a web site and exist out in the literal man . According to the Verge , one of their early ideas was to make a museum for artifacts from Britain ’s conquering of Heaven , complete with a picture of an ascending ship and celestial artifact such as a flaming sword .
They figured if anyone was drop dead to fund such a bonkers , ambitious project it would be Musk .
“ He thinks about issues very , very globally , ” Berkley told the Verge . “ SpaceX is about colonizing another major planet as opposed to launch satellites . Tesla is about change the style people move , as opposed to making a nice car . I think he thinks about irony in a similar way . ”
Berkley added that Musk almost views irony as a “ public goodness . ”
He and Bolton reached out to Musk to help spread their vision of public good , and Musk decide to help them evolve their venture by fund it and letting Bolton and Berkley take care of the rest .
During it ’s short existence , Thud execute some masterful public acts of caustic remark — likeTacstorma fake company that claimed to sell heavy weapon that constantly fire ( “ In a firefight , if you ’re not shooting first , you ’re getting flash ” ) ; a fake DNA examination troupe calledDNA Friend(“DNA Friend did n’t become the industry leader in costless genetic testing by take away customer data and indiscriminately selling it to anyone who was buying — it took much more than that . ” ) ; andPloog , a fake seller of monstrously shaped aim that fits any orifice .
View this place on Instagram
These society do n’t just have their own sites filled with screaming gems of copy , they also have their own Instagram accounts and promotional textile , that confused at least some people .
“ This photoshopped picture just sealed the deal … y’ all ai n’t gettin my money or my DNA , ” someone commented on an Instagram berth by DNA Friend that shows two women with undivided protruding teeth and a forehead birthmark .
DNA Friend ’s mascot — a happy cliff of spit — appeared at SXSW at Times Square . And billboard advertising Ploogs ( “ The future of get thing into holes is here . ” ) seem briefly in Columbus , Georgia .
According to The Verge , Thud ’s Godhead wanted to go further with these concepts — for instance , advertise DNA Friend everywhere that 23andMe ran advertising — and had about a XII other ideas in exploitation . But then Musk backed out of the labor about six months ago , and Thud , along with its staff of about a dozen people , did n’t have money to execute everything they want to do .
Bolton reportedly find out Musk was prune ties to the endeavour in a group meeting that Bolton had with Musk ’s chief of staff Sam Teller . The Verge reports that Teller conveyed to Bolton that Musk was worried that Thud ’s work might harm his reputation . This was around the sentence that Musk was facing heating for his ill - advised tweeting and freakish behavior , namely his tweet about taking Tesla private for $ 420 that led to abattlewith the Securities and Exchange Commission , and atweetattacking a cave diver who helped rescue twelve child from a Thailand cave , calling the human race a “ pedo , ” which led to a lawsuit .
“ He was starting to get disturbed about how [ Thud ’s project ] could reflect on him during critical time for Tesla and SpaceX , ” Bolton told the Verge . “ You know , his companies that are plainly quite a bit more large and , I would say , important than Thud . ”
trusted , space travel and an galvanizing machine party may be more impactful than a satire site . But it ’s still a shame . Thud was as bitter and funny as the Onion , but had the gonzo nature of social - experiment performance art like Nathan For You . And with a angel like Musk , Thud would n’t have needed to compromise in decree to forge a sustainable business model . Bolton secernate the Verge that Thud was like a “ satiric art playground ” that they were building entirely with Musk ’s money . “ It was a wild affair to get into and actually have be a reality for a while , ” Bolton said .
Gizmodo reached out to Musk through Tesla and Space X , but neither company respond to a asking for comment on Thud or Musk ’s intellect for leaving the labor .
According to the Verge , Bolton and Berkley tried to discover new investors , but they struggled to find anyone who “ got it . ” The company shut down in May . But Musk continues tocommit crimesagainst humor with his dad joke on Twitter .
Elon MuskSPACEXTESLA
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