This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Elon Musk wanted back in. This time, through the front doorand with $97.4 billion behind him. According to newly revealed court filings, Musk tried to recruit none other than Mark Zuckerberg to help bankroll an audacious, unsolicited bid to buy OpenAI. The Meta (NASDAQ:META) CEO didn’t bite. Neither Zuckerberg nor Meta signed the letter of intent or took part in the process, and OpenAI’s board formally rejected the offer in February. The disclosure lands in the middle of a high-stakes legal brawl between Musk and OpenAI, which Musk co-founded before leaving to build rival startup xAI.
Here’s where it gets messy. Musk is suing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman for allegedly betraying the company’s original nonprofit missionarguing their deep partnership with Microsoft flipped OpenAI into a for-profit play. But the filing hints at a contradiction: Musk was simultaneously trying to pull off his own takeover, even discussing it with OpenAI’s biggest competitor. That could poke a hole in Musk’s legal narrative. The judge overseeing the case has already flagged Musk’s past efforts to fold OpenAI into Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) or steer it toward profit as potentially undermining his claims.
Now, OpenAI wants more. The company has asked a judge to force Meta to hand over any documents tied to communications with Musk. Meta’s response? A hard no. The company said it didn’t join the bid, didn’t coordinate with Musk, and has no documents that would add anything relevant to the case. Any parties that did participate should be the ones answering subpoenas, not Meta. The legal fight is heating upand Musk’s own moves may end up being Exhibit A.
