Richard Branson's 3am Visitor Before Space Flight: Elon Musk

Tesla founder stopped by Branson's kitchen
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 12, 2021 1:25 AM CDT
Richard Branson's 3am Visitor Before Space Flight: Elon Musk
In this March 14, 2019, file photo, Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at the company's design studio in Hawthorne, Calif.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Richard Branson got a visit from another billionaire in the wee hours of Sunday, just before his historic trip to space: Elon Musk. The Virgin Group founder tweeted a photo of himself with the (barefoot) Tesla founder two hours before the flight launched, Business Insider reports. Branson later explained at a press conference, "It was great this morning to find Elon Musk in my kitchen at three o'clock, to come to wish us the best. I'd already been to bed and he still hadn't gone to bed." Musk tweeted his congratulations to Branson after the successful flight.

But in the comments of Branson's tweet, the backlash against the trend of billionaires going to space continued: "Imagine if you guys used your billions to fight poverty instead, that would be truly impressive," reads one sample response. There were plenty of others along those lines to be found, but a fair number of commenters expressed admiration for Branson and Musk. This one referred to them both as "likeable." (More Richard Branson stories.)

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