Larry Page Once Considered Giving Elon Musk His Fortune to Colonize Mars. Now, They Don’t Even Talk

Life has a way of reshaping even the best-laid plans. Over 25 years ago, Google co-founder Larry Page and Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared a close friendship—at times, even a roof. Today, they no longer speak.

All to save humanity. In 2014, Page surprised everyone with a statement that went beyond the anecdotal and revealed his view of the future. During a TED interview with Charlie Rose, the journalist asked Page about some statements he had previously made: “You once said that you might consider giving your money, if you were leaving it to some cause, just simply giving it to Elon Musk because you had confidence he would change the future.”

The reason? According to Google’s co-founder, Musk wasn’t just revolutionizing electric mobility with Tesla or taking humanity to Mars with SpaceX. To Page, Musk embodied the spirit of innovation capable of radically changing the world to make that happen.

Companies that change the world. As Page stated, the initiatives of billionaires like Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates—who’ve set their sights on improving the human condition—prove that companies, when managed effectively, can drive revolutionary change. “We have a lot of employees at Google who have become pretty wealthy... You’re working because you want to change the world. You want to make it better,” Page stated.

Page characterized Musk as a rare innovator whose ambitions extended beyond conventional business objectives. He saw Musk’s vision as both entrepreneurial and philanthropic, driven by a commitment to the “common good” of humanity. Page argued that such endeavors shouldn’t be seen as opposing the pursuit of collective well-being. “If he wants to go to Mars to back up humanity, that’s a worthy goal, but it’s a company, and it’s philanthropic. So I think we aim to do kind of similar things,” Page said. But that was his view in 2014.

The strong friendship between Musk and Page. Page and Musk’s friendship dates back to the late 1990s, when the Google co-founders were still developing their search engine. Musk, then an entrepreneur on the rise, would frequently stay at Page’s house during trips to Silicon Valley. Page even joked to Ashlee Vance, author of one of Musk’s biographies, “He’s kind of homeless, which I think is sort of funny. He’ll e-mail and say, ‘I don’t know where to stay tonight. Can I come over? I haven’t given him a key or anything yet.”

According to Vance, in 2013, Page and Musk even discussed a contingency plan for Google to acquire Tesla for $11 billion during one of Tesla’s financial rough patches—a deal ultimately unnecessary after Tesla’s recovery. However, the beginning of the end for their friendship came as their views on AI systems diverged.

Separated by AI applications. Page’s trust would gradually fade as AI systems development progressed and its potential became apparent. As Musk’s biographer Walter Isaacson wrote, the tension between the two billionaires began in 2013.

At a birthday party, Page reportedly called Musk a “speciesist” for prioritizing human interests over AI models. Musk, deeply concerned about AI’s potential to harm humanity, later helped create OpenAI as a nonprofit to promote safe AI systems development.

From friends to strangers. What began as a debate over the direction of AI development soon escalated into a clash of business interests. Page’s admiration for Musk’s vision and his so-called “philanthropic mission” eventually faded away.

When Musk pushed for and financially supported the creation of OpenAI as a nonprofit organization to ensure the safety of AI systems, Page saw this move as a direct challenge to Google, especially after its acquisition of DeepMind, a leading AI systems research company. Tensions escalated further when Musk allegedly tried to dissuade DeepMind’s board from selling to Google. Since then, Page and Musk haven’t spoken.

A friendship Musk hopes to repair. Musk’s position remains firm, as shown by his legal battle with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, over its transition to a for-profit entity.

Despite Musk and Page falling out, the owner of X has expressed regret over losing Page as a friend. In an episode of Lex Fridman’s podcast, the billionaire revealed his desire to reconcile, saying, “I’d like to be friends with Larry again. What really ended our friendship was OpenAI.” However, he also admitted that Page likely doesn’t share the sentiment, citing their starkly different views on AI: “He doesn’t want to talk to me anymore,” Musk lamented.

Images | Niall Kennedy | Steve Jurvetson

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