By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-31 06:21:39 | Updated at 2025-04-01 23:05:50
1 day ago
A major tech rival whom Elon Musk accused of funding a shadowy cabal spreading protests at Tesla dealerships has hit back at the DOGE chief.
Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, has adamantly denied reports that he is financing a group that has organized protests against DOGE's actions at Tesla stores throughout the country.
The allegations had spread on Musk's social media platform, X, with one user who claimed to be a Tesla shareholder saying Hoffman was reimbursing protesters up to $200, Raw Story reports.
The post prompted Musk to reply that the LinkedIn founder - with whom he worked at PayPal - 'will have many layers between himself and the organizations attacking me, but the probability is 100 percent that Reid is funding them.
'100 percent,' he repeated.
Hoffman then shot back: 'The probability many, many people don't like you? 100 percent.
'Probability that Tesla polls need to be rigged by bots to cover up the fact that people don't like you? 100 percent,' he continued.
When one X user replied to Hoffman by saying he did the 'liar tell, which is to say you didn't deny Elon's specific allegation' - forcing him to say, 'I am denying Elon's specific allegation.'
Reid Hoffman, 57, the founder of LinkedIn, has adamantly denied reports that he is financing a group that has organized protests against DOGE's actions at Tesla stores throughout the country
Musk has spread the allegations online, saying there is a 100 percent probability that Reid is funding the 'organizations attacking me'
Hoffman shot back by replying that people simply do not like the DOGE chief
Musk had said that an 'investigation' into the sometimes fiery protests at Tesla dealerships unearthed that Hoffman and investor George Soros, 94, were responsible for donating cash to protest groups through the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue.
'An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla 'protests': Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and Democratic Socialists of America,' Musk shared on X.
'ActBlue funders include George Soros [and] Reid Hoffman,' his post continued. 'ActBlue is currently under investigation for allowing foreign and illegal donations in criminal violation of campaign finance regulations.
'This week, 7 ActBlue senior officials resigned, including the associate general counsel. If you know anything about this, please post in replies,' Musk finished his note, prompting his over 200 million followers to send over information they may know.
Soros and Hoffman are both notable Democratic donors, shoveling out millions to support liberal candidates and initiatives.
But Soros' group, Open Society Foundations, told DailyMail.com that it is 'not funding these protests or attacks.
'Any claims suggesting otherwise are false. We do not coordinate, train, or strategize with protest organizers or participants.'
Hoffman has also previously denied the allegations, writing in a post on social media: 'I don't condone violence. But it's clear Americans are angry at him – it's easier to explain away their anger, than to accept that actions have consequences.'
Sometimes fiery protests at Tesla dealerships have spread across the country
The correction seemed to infuriate Musk, who responded to Hoffman with a coded message apparently nodding to the co-founder's alleged connections to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
'Describe your favorite island vacation,' Musk wrote back to his one-time coworker, after months of claiming that Hoffman is afraid of Epstein's client list being released by the Trump administration.
In response to the barb, Hoffman sent a picture of Tesla stock tanking - revealing a large rise and fall of the share price, an image that resembled a mountain.
'I don't know about islands but here's your least favorite mountain,' the LinkedIn co-founder retorted.
