Teen who tracks Elon Musk's private jet on Twitter rejects offer of free Tesla to delete his account

Jack Sweeney was offered a Tesla for three years.
Loukia Papadopoulos

Sometimes even a Tesla is not enough!

Last month, billionaire Elon Musk messaged a 19-year-old owner of a Twitter account, called the "Elon Musk's Jet" account (@ElonJet), that tracks the tech CEO's private jet, offering him $5,000 to remove his account. The account owner, Jack Sweeney, replied that he wanted more money, stating that the satisfaction he had from running the account would be compensated for no less than $50,000.

Well, the saga continues with the teen being offered a free Tesla for three years, according to The Wall Street Journal. But will it be enough?

A free Tesla for three years

On Friday, Scott Painter, CEO of Autonomy, a car-hire company, took to Twitter to offer Sweeney a subscription to a Tesla Model 3 for three whole years. However, this move seemed to have offended the young man. 

"I told you I'm not interested in a subscription besides, there are numerous facts that suggest this is in conjunction with Elon," Sweeney replied. Then, in an interview with the Journal, he explained that in order to take down the account, he wanted his own car that he would not have to give back in a few years.

Some may be wondering why it's so hard for a billionaire to take down a simple Twitter account? Well, it's because Sweeney is not actually breaking any laws. His account simply monitors the movements of the CEO's private jet via bots that are always tracking air traffic data.

Only a Tesla will do

In essence, he is just reposting public information to Twitter. Furthermore, in Sweeney's defense, he has been pretty clear that a Tesla and only a Tesla would make him shut down his account.

In the fall of 2021, Musk said to the intrepid young man: "Can you take this down? It is a security risk."

Sweeney replied: "Yes I can but it'll cost you a Model 3 only joking unless?"

Quite frankly, we are a little surprised to see this situation go on for so long. A Tesla is not a big expense for a billionaire like Elon Musk which begs the question: why won't he simply give the teenager what he is asking for?

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