Elon Musk vs Jeff Bezos: Inside the tech titans’ two-decade-long rivalry

The Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos are known as two of the world’s richest men.

The battle between the two tech titans is more than just a contest. It’s a clash of egos, visions, and industries that has played out publicly for over two decades.

Their rivalry began in 2004 when the two billionaires first met to discuss space exploration. 

What started as a professional exchange of ideas quickly changed into a rivalry fueled by lawsuits, public insults, and more.

A detailed timeline of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk’s relationship

The timeline below shows how the relationship between the two billionaires has developed over the 20 years.

Musk and Bezos first-ever meeting (2004)

In the early 2000s, Musk was fresh off the sale of PayPal and had just founded SpaceX, while Bezos was still building Amazon into a global retail giant and quietly developing Blue Origin.

Their first meeting in 2004 was centred on reusable rockets, a shared passion. Musk tried to give Bezos advice, but Bezos largely dismissed him, perhaps doubting his credibility at the time. 

That meeting planted the seeds of a rivalry that would grow over the years.

SpaceX and Blue Origin clash over NASA Launchpad (2013)

Nearly a decade later, their companies collided over NASA’s Launchpad 39A. Blue Origin tried to prevent SpaceX from gaining exclusive access, but Musk fired back, arguing that Blue Origin had yet to launch anything into orbit.

Eventually, Musk-owned SpaceX won the rights, cementing Musk’s dominance and humiliating Bezos in the process.

The Patent dispute (2014)

When Blue Origin secured a patent for landing rockets on water in 2014, SpaceX immediately challenged it, calling it “an old hat” in rocket engineering.

The US Patent Trial and Appeal Board sided with Musk, overturning the patent and dealing another blow to Bezos’s space company.

The insults heat up (2019-2020)

By 2019, the rivalry between the two became personal. Bezos mocked Musk’s Mars ambitions, calling them unrealistic.

However, Musk took to X (formerly Twitter), and retaliated by branding Blue Origin a “copycat,” especially after Amazon revealed its satellite internet project, Kuiper, which is similar to SpaceX’s Starlink.

Later in 2020, after Amazon acquired self-driving startup Zoox, Musk again accused Bezos of copying Tesla’s playbook.

The NASA lawsuit (2021)

In 2021, tensions peaked when NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract. 

Blue Origin sued NASA to block the deal, prompting Musk to tweet, “You can’t sue your way to the Moon.”

The lawsuit was later dismissed, handing Musk yet another victory.

2022-2024 era

During these years, the battle expanded into satellite launches. SpaceX raced ahead with Starlink, while Bezos pushed Kuiper.

Their visions for space tourism also diverged: Musk focused on Mars, while Bezos envisioned orbital habitats.

By late 2024, Musk even accused Bezos of meddling in politics and undermining Tesla’s stock, further fueling their feud.

Bezos-backed startup hires Tesla braintrust’s key member (2025)

Recently, an EV startup funded by Bezos, Slate Auto, has landed a top engineer from Tesla,  Napoleon Reyes, a former crucial cog in Tesla's manufacturing and production lines to help build up its Indiana pickup truck factory.