Elon Musk won’t fight Mark Zuckerberg in a ‘cage match’ – because he knows he’d lose

‘Musk – like many rich men – has a natural yearning to prove his worth in a way that no one can claim is due only to his money.’ Photograph: Kenula Pathirathna/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Never challenge anyone to a fight. Not even if you think you would win. Especially not if you think you would win. To break this commandment is to invite the wrath of all universal karma down upon your head. It is to engage in the folly of hubris, to break the prohibition against violence, and to set oneself up as a poster child for “getting what’s coming to you”. As a general rule, the people who forge ahead in defiance of this wisdom do so only because they are spoiled, confidence-poisoned children who can only learn things the hard way.

Having $200bn only makes all of these poisonous characteristics more potent. But unlike most things, money cannot protect you from the consequences of this particular mistake.