TEXAS — Nineteen-year-old Jack Sweeney from Florida has rejected Elon Musk’s offer of $5,000 to delete his Twitter account that tracks the billionaire’s private jet.
The Twitter account ElonJet has amassed nearly 215,000 followers. Sweeney uses Twitter bots he created to track multiple planes, including Musk’s jet. The account reports where the plane takes off, lands and the duration of the flight.
According to CNN, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO offered the college freshman $5,000 to delete ElonJet and stop tracking his plane. Sweeney countered, asking for $50,000 to help him pay for college and possibly a Tesla Model 3. CNN also reports Sweeney has a collection of Twitter bot accounts to track the travels of other tech gurus including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
The first DM from Musk to Sweeney came in on Nov. 30, 2021, according to Protocol, with Musk calling the Twitter account a “security risk” and asked for it to be taken down.
Despite Musk’s efforts to block tracking, Sweeney has found his way around those efforts and is still able to track Musk’s aircraft.
According to Protocol, the last message exchange took place last Wednesday, with Sweeney expressing interest in an internship with Musk rather than money. Musk has not read the message yet.