Did Elon Musk Buy GM?
Snopes
1/26/2023
Claim: Elon Musk bought General Motors.
Rating: False
On Dec. 4, 2022, a YouTube channel named Elon Musk Rewind posted a video promoting a rumor that claimed Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk had bought General Motors, the automobile company better known as GM. The video's title read, "BREAKING NEWS! Elon Musk JUST OFFICIALLY BOUGHT General Motors!"
Other similarly-named channels also posted the purported news, including Elon Musk Now, Elon Musk Zone, Futurity, and Elon Musk Live.
© Provided by Snopes
The idea that Elon Musk bought GM is a false rumor.
None of this was true.
However, this news was false. Musk had not bought GM, nor had he announced any plans to do so.
We found a disclaimer of sorts at the bottom of the description in the video posted by Elon Musk Rewind. It read, "Our channel is purely made for entertainment purposes, based on facts, rumors, and fiction."
In this case, the rumor was completely fictional.
Musk and GM previously made headlines after his October 2022 purchase of Twitter.
On Oct. 28, CNBC reported that GM was "pausing" its advertising on Twitter "to understand the direction of the platform under [Musk's] new ownership."
Then, on December 6, GM CEO Mary Barra explained to CNBC that it had decided to suspend ads on Twitter due to the fact that Musk's electric vehicle company, Tesla, is a competitor.
We previously reported that Musk had not bought Google, a rumor that also stemmed from some of the aforementioned Musk-centric YouTube channels.
Sources:
Elon Musk Rewind. "BREAKING NEWS! Elon Musk JUST OFFICIALLY BOUGHT General Motors!" YouTube, 4 Dec. 2022,
.![]()
Replay VideoLiles, Jordan. "Did Elon Musk Buy Google?" Snopes, 9 Jan. 2023, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/elon-musk-bought-google/.
Wayland, Michael. "GM Continues to Evaluate Twitter Advertising Suspension Following Musk Takeover." CNBC, 6 Dec. 2022, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/06/gm-evaluates-twitter-advertising-suspension-following-musk-takeover.html.
Wayland, Michael, and Lora Kolodny. "GM Temporarily Suspends Advertising on Twitter Following Elon Musk Takeover." CNBC, 28 Oct. 2020, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/28/gm-temporarily-suspends-advertising-on-twitter-following-elon-musk-takeover.html.
Snopes
