Elon Musk and Vinod Khosla, two of Silicon Valley’s biggest names, clashed again online after Musk posted a comment about white people that sparked Khosla’s reaction.

Musk wrote on X: “White people are a rapidly diminishing minority of global population.”

Khosla fired back, accusing Musk of pushing a racial agenda in the U.S. and urged non-White employees to leave his companies. He wrote: “Elon Musk doesn’t want MAGA, he wants WAGA or ‘white America great again’ as a racism is great and desirable paradigm. All non-whites in Tesla, SpaceX, X etc and all decent whites should quit and join our portfolio. Email us your linkedin!”

Musk responded, pointing to his Indian connections to counter claims of being a White supremacist. He wrote: “Vinod, you’re not just such a pompous a**hole that you tried to stop the public from using a public beach near your house, you’ve also gone full r***d. My partner, Shivon, is half Indian and my eldest son with her is named in honor of the great Indian physicist Chandrasekhar.”

READ: Old rivalry returns: Elon Musk, Peter Navarro clash over India (September 8, 2025)

Khosla later replied, advising Musk to keep his family out of the debate and to rethink his public statements on race. He wrote: “Instead of bringing your family into it, maybe try not tweeting ‘SEEMINGLY’ racist stuff next time? Many would appreciate it if you acknowledge you are not trying to establish a white society in America, and are not WAGA, and racism isn’t behind your many laments around white birth rates, declining % of population and many similar laments.”

Khosla then responded to Musk’s personal jab, addressing the beach controversy in detail: “As to the beach issue you’d appreciate me standing up to the principle of defending ‘the principal of private property’ instead of giving in to whatever the Coastal Commission wants. EVERY court ruling (in Friends of Martin Beach case including all appeals) so far reaffirms there has NEVER been free access to the beach thru private property, just paid access for parking, though the beach is public property (I’ve never asserted it isn’t). You would appreciate it if you knew the facts. Anything else is communism. Separately, courts have denied my petition to have the right to close the gate because the CCC has not denied me the right to close the gate and wont give me a hearing for years because then they would have to deny my petition and I would have legal recourse. So they just wont give me a hearing date.”

READ: Vinod Khosla: ‘We are getting closer’ to AI-powered healthcare (January 4, 2026)

Despite the lengthy rebuttal, Khosla ended on a conciliatory note, praising Musk: “Unfortunately I have no proof to refute your claim that I am a pompous asshole and retarded. I have said publicly I do admire your extraordinary entrepreneurial skills.”

The beach dispute stems from Khosla’s 2008 purchase of land near Martin’s Beach in Half Moon Bay, California. He put up a gate on a road that had long provided public access to the beach, blocking visitors. Legal battles ensued, with a court ruling that Khosla must allow public access via the beach road. The move drew criticism, with many accusing him of restricting public enjoyment of a shared space. Khosla, however, defended his actions as a matter of protecting private property rights.

Who is Elon Musk’s partner Shivon?

Musk’s partner, Shivon Alice Zilis, is a Canadian tech executive and venture capitalist. She was born to a Punjabi Indian mother and a Canadian father. Their eldest son is named in honor of Indian American physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.