
As Gen-Z goes all-in on the flex culture, only a select few can flaunt a flex as big as calling Elon Musk — the world’s richest man and the newly crowned CEO and owner of Twitter — a friend . Musk’s Twitter friend Pranay Pathole went viral earlier this year while visiting the Tesla Gigafactory in Texas with Musk. Now he’s back in the headlines after Twitter suspended the 24-year-old’s account.
Twitter reportedly suspended Pathole’s Twitter account for violating the Twitter Rules. “I’m getting to the bottom of this now,” Musk tweeted, getting the hang of it.
While it’s difficult to contact the richest person in the world, Pranay Pathole didn’t expect Elon Musk to respond when he first tweeted him in 2018. At the time, Pathole wanted clarification on Tesla’s automatic wipers and an issue that was plaguing them in the rain, which Musk replied was “fixed in the next release.”
Pathole hasn’t looked back since, claiming he’s in regular contact with Musk and that the two communicate via Twitter direct messages. The 24-year-old has amassed more than 1.98k Twitter followers and is now studying an MS in Business Analytics at the University of Texas at Dallas. Pathole left his job as an Assistant Systems Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services in August 2022.
Pathold met Musk in August 2022 while visiting Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas. “It was so great to meet you @elonmusk at Gigafactory Texas. Never seen such a humble and down to earth person. You are an inspiration to millions,” he tweeted, posting a picture of Musk with him.
It’s safe to say that Pathole is not just a Twitter friend, but also a very ardent admirer of the new “chief” Elon Musk. Pathole often retweets Musk, supporting the billionaire’s recent efforts.
Following a recent Neuralink presentation, Pathole praised Musk’s company on Twitter, saying, “The fact that the Neuralink chip will allow someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs gives me hope a better humanity @elonmusk.”
He also confirmed Elon Musk’s latest escapades with Twitter: “I stand by @elonmusk. He makes Twitter a much better place. I love how he fights for freedom of speech despite receiving so much hate, criticism and slander.”
Pathole’s Twitter account appears to have been restored, but this incident raises the question of what other benefits could be had from having the richest person in the world as your Twitter “buddy”?
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