LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman to Elon Musk: 'It is clear that Americans are angry at you'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently alleged that billionaires George Soros and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman funded recent protests at Tesla showrooms. Hoffman denied the accusation, calling it “just one more of Elon’s false claims about me.” Denying that he “never funded anyone for Tesla protests,” Hoffman stated “it's clear Americans are angry at him”. The heated exchange between the two took place on X (formerly Twitter), where Musk claimed Hoffman was funding groups behind anti-Tesla protests. In a post dated March 8, Musk wrote “An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla “protests”: Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and Democratic Socialists of America. ActBlue funders include George Soros, Reid Hoffman, Herbert Sandler, Patricia Bauman, and Leah Hunt-Hendrix.”

Hoffman quickly refuted the allegation. He said
“Just one more of Elon's false claims about me: I never funded anyone for Tesla protests. 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.”

In another post, Hoffman shared a conversation with AI chatbot Grok, asking if he funded ActBlue for Tesla protests. To this, Grok replied: “There is no conclusive evidence that Reid Hoffman directly funded ActBlue specifically for Tesla protests. Elon Musk has claimed that an "investigation" linked five groups—Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project, and Democratic Socialists of America—to Tesla protests, alleging they were funded through ActBlue, with Hoffman among the notable donors. However, Musk has not provided public evidence to substantiate this claim, and no independent investigation or official report has confirmed a direct connection between Hoffman, ActBlue, and the protests as of March 10, 2025.”

Quoting the post by Hoffman, Musk responded stating “Describe your favorite island vacation”, likely as a sarcastic deflection. Multiple replies mention Jeffrey Epstein's island, alluding to a controversial conspiracy theory Musk has previously amplified, linking Hoffman to Epstein.