19-year-old uni student, Jack Sweeney refuses to delete the Twitter account tracking Elon Musks’s private jet unless he’s paid $50k.
After developing a bot that monitors Elon’s private flights, Florida student Jack Sweeney created the Twitter account ElonJet, which automatically posts updates whenever the plane is on the move.
Responsible for exposing details like where the jet takes off or lands, and the length of each trip, it’s safe to say that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO is feeling a little spooked right now. We would be too, considering the account has now racked up over 250,000 followers.
“I don’t love the idea of being shot by a nutcase,” Musk said.
During the initial discovery back in November last year, the tech giant reached out to Sweeney via Twitter DMs: “Can you take this down? It’s a security risk,” he said. After much back and forth, Elon finally offered up $5,000 in exchange for the account deletion. He even asked the teen for advice on how to prevent “crazy people” from tracking his flights in the future.
Sweeney blatantly refused this offer, telling Insider that $5k would do nothing to replace “the enjoyment factor” of running the account, and the hard work he put into creating the bot. Instead, he asked Elon for $50k instead, stating the money could be used for college, or maybe even a Tesla (TSLA) Model 3. “Any chance to up that to $US50K?” the message stated. “Account and all my help.”
Took off from Hawthorne, Elon got PIA blocking program but already found the aircraft. pic.twitter.com/nOxNUxy5y5
— Elon Musk's Jet (@ElonJet) January 26, 2022
Understandably angered by the 19-year old’s shocking counter-offer, Musk told Sweeney in a final message on January 19 that he didn’t feel like he should have “to pay to shut this down.”
Although it may not seem like it, Jack Sweeney is actually a big fan of Elon Musk. He’s apparently been inspired by the tech giant ever since SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy launch in 2018. That might explain the teenager’s most recent counteroffer, which Musk is yet to respond to: “Options other than remuneration, like an internship, would make taking it down a lot easier.”
While stalking your idol’s plane trips presents obvious security risks, and is probably not the best way to land an internship, although we do acknowledge Jack’s hustle.
He’s clearly got no plans of slowing down, considering he reportedly has 12 more flight bots tracking other tech giants such as Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. Someone better make this guy an irresistible offer soon, before we all end up on his radar!
