A physical fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg probably wasn't on most people's 2023 bingo, but by the summer, it seemed like a real possibility.
The battle of Musk vs. Zuck was one of the biggest online stories of the year.
The two tech moguls traded blows on social media in July after Zuckerberg announced the launch of Threads, an app designed to rival X. The media circus around them heated up and culminated with the promise of a mixed martial arts fight between the two billionaires this summer, though Zuckerberg eventually dismissed the idea of a physical fight with Musk in August.
At that point, Musk's reputation was already on the line. The Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder's back-and-forth deal to buy Twitter led to widespread criticism and scorn. Meanwhile, a new-and-improved Zuckerberg enjoyed a run of largely positive media attention after launching Threads.
As the two traded barbs online about a real-life fight, X and Threads users alike rallied around Zuckerberg, who had been showing off his jiu-jitsu skills on Instagram.
"After the release of this app, I am officially taking Zuck in the fight. He's a superior man," wrote Threads user Myles O'Neal, the son of Shaquille O'Neal.
Rallying around Zuckerberg would have, a short time ago, seemed pretty unlikely. The two tech moguls were sitting at opposite poles of public opinion, with Musk considered a firebrand tech innovator and Zuckerberg a vengeful nerd. Now, some are saying Zuckerberg is in his comeback era.
But a PR expert and a reporter who have followed the pair's online journey told Business Insider that despite the striking shift in dynamic, Zuckerberg shouldn't expect to become the new internet's new hero.