Elon Musk and Mukesh Ambani’s feud over Starlink | Explained

SpaceX owner Elon Musk has never shied away from starting a social media spat, be it with his own family members or U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mr. Musk has now taken aim at India’s billionaire Mukesh Ambani, accusing the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries of being the real “boss” of India, and playing a role in keeping Starlink’s satellite internet out of the Indian market to favour Jio.

What has Mr. Musk said about Mr. Ambani?

On October 9, Mr. Musk posted on X a mockingly subservient tweet addressed to “Prime Minister Ambani,” apologising for “not realising that you are the real boss of India,” and accused him of wanting to maintain his “monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India,” before asking him for permission to allow Starlink to compete in the market. Mr. Musk claimed that Starlink would help close internet connectivity gaps across the country and could help save lives during natural disasters.

Critics of Mr. Musk were infuriated by what they felt was the undermining of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as the accusation that India’s government is under Mr. Ambani’s influence. Others flagged that the price of Starlink’s service, both hardware and subscriptions, was many times more than the services offered by India-based internet service providers.

On October 11, Mr. Musk posted that competition would benefit Indian customers by giving them more choices and that prices would be adjusted accordingly.

“Ambani’s profits will be lower, but he is not going out of business. And, obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable,” stated Mr. Musk.