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Elon Musk is virtual friends with an Indian superfan, who says the multibillionaire is ‘down-to-earth’ and ‘humble’

  • Pranay Pathole has exchanged hundreds of tweets and private messages with the world’s richest man since Musk first responded to him in 2018
  • The US-India time difference has done little to hamper their virtual friendship, with Musk messaging Pranay once every two days, on average

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Pranay Pathole uses his mobile phone at his home in Pune, India. Photo: AFP
Agence France-Pressein Pune

Not many people can boast of having candid conversations about planetary conquest with Elon Musk, but for Indian software engineer Pranay Pathole, a friendly chat with the world’s richest man is just a tweet away.

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Their unlikely online friendship has blossomed since Pathole was a teenager, with the mercurial billionaire responding to him over hundreds of tweets and private messages with headline-making company updates and even life advice.

This week, the two finally met face to face, when Pathole travelled to the United States – his first trip overseas – to begin a master’s degree there in business analytics.
Elon Musk first responded to Pathole on Twitter in 2018. Photo: dpa
Elon Musk first responded to Pathole on Twitter in 2018. Photo: dpa

“He is super genuine. Like, way down-to-earth. He’s humble,” the 23-year-old said beforehand. “The way he takes his time to respond to me … just shows.”

Musk is a prolific user of Twitter, often posting more than 30 times a day to his 103 million followers.
But it remains a mystery why the SpaceX and Tesla boss, with a net worth of US$266 billion, maintains regular contact with the young Indian.

“To be very honest, I have no idea. I think he must be like, really intrigued by my questions,” Pathole said from his parents’ upper-middle-class home in the western city of Pune.

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