Musk or Zuckerberg: Who is favored in potential billionaire brawl?
If billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg actually settle their differences in a fight, Zuckerberg will be favored, oddsmakers say.
Musk and Zuckerberg went back and forth on social media this week before the tech billionaires apparently agreed to a “cage match.”
Musk, who owns Twitter, threw the first jab online when he responded to a tweet about Zuckerberg-owned Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) reportedly planning to release a Twitter rival called “Threads.”
“I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options,” he tweeted.
When a follower told Musk to be careful because Zuckerberg does jiujitsu, Musk replied late Tuesday, “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.”
Zuckerberg responded with “Send me location” on Wednesday night on Instagram above a screenshot of Musk’s tweet.
Musk responded with “Vegas Octagon,” while joking that “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus,’ where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing.”
If the fight actually takes place, DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello said he’d make Zuckerberg a -160 favorite over Musk, the +140 underdog.
Zuckerberg, 39, is reportedly 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 154 pounds. Musk, 51, is reportedly 5-11 and 180 pounds.
“The biggest factor is probably the age,” Avello said. “Musk has him by (26) pounds. But Zuckerberg is 12 years younger, and I know he’s been dabbling in jiujitsu and some martial arts stuff. Both guys are in fair shape, but Zucker is in a little better shape.
“Another factor is who is the most liked out of the two guys. I don’t know. I think the first bet would probably come in on Musk at +140. It would probably be good two-way action.”
A positive number represents how much a bettor would profit on a $100 wager. A negative number represents how much a person would need to bet to profit $100. In this case, a bettor would have to wager $160 to win $100 on Zuckerberg and $100 to win $140 on Musk.
BetOnline, an offshore sportsbook, made Zuckerberg a heavy -500 favorite, with Musk a +300 underdog.
Neither BetOnline nor DraftKings have made odds available for betting.
Zuckerberg competed in his first Brazilian jiujitsu tournament in May and won gold and silver medals. He also marked Memorial Day by doing “the Murph Challenge” — a workout done while wearing a 20-pound weighted vest that included 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats and a mile run.
Musk reportedly trained in karate, taekwondo and judo when he was a boy. But he tweeted that recently, “I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids and throwing them in the air.”
Avello declined to make odds on whether the fight will take place.
“These two guys are so filthy rich, they would never be doing it for the money. They’d be doing it for sport or to see who’s the toughest,” he said. “Is it going to happen? I don’t know. But I’d like to see it.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.