Did Elon Musk say that he bought Boeing? No, that's not true: Musk did not announce the purchase on X, and Boeing published no such information as of this writing. No information about this supposed post has been reported on the website of any news outlets indexed by Google News.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on December 19, 2024, with a caption that read:
1 MINUTE AGO: ѕһoсkіпɡ Merger - Elon Musk Just Acquires Boeing, Takes Over the Sky!
This is how the post looked on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken Mon Dec 23 13:07:30 2024 UTC)
The page that made the post left a comment under the post on Facebook that led to an article published on the website medianews48.com (archived here) on December 18, 2024, under the title:
1 MINUTE AGO: ѕһoсkіпɡ Merger - Elon Musk Just Acquires Boeing, Takes Over the Sky! .Qu
It read, in part:
Iп a move that has left both the tech aпd aerospace iпdυstries iп ѕһoсk, Eloп Mυsk has aппoυпced his iпteпtioп to acqυire Boeiпg, oпe of the world's largest aerospace maпυfactυrers. The revelatioп саme dυriпg a sυrprise tweet early this morпiпg, seпdiпg ѕoсіаɩ medіа aпd global markets iпto a freпzy.
The Αппoυпcemeпt
Takiпg to his favorite platform, Mυsk simply tweeted, 'I am officially bυyiпg Boeiпg. Time to revolυtioпize aerospace.' Withiп miпυtes, the post garпered millioпs of likes, retweets, aпd aп avalaпche of qυestioпs from iпdυstry experts, faпs, aпd skeptics alike.
The article was written under the byline ToQ. It provided no further information to confirm Musk's supposed purchase, such as a link to an official announcement, how much he paid for the company or when the purchase was made.
Originating website is not reliable information source
The website where the article appeared was registered on July 24, 2021, to NameCheap, Inc. in Reykjavik, Iceland, according to the domain lookup Whois (archived here). Lead Stories has previously debunked claims on websites registered to this name, some of which can be read here, here and here.
Furthermore, links on the website that should lead to further information about it, such as "Team," "History" and "Careers," only go to the top of the article, making it hard to get more information about the website and its transparency.
Musk did not post on X about the supposed purchase
The medianews48.com website claimed that Musk "simply tweeted" the announcement, which refers to X's previous name, Twitter. Lead Stories did an advanced search (archived here) of Musk's verified X profile for the quote attributed to him in the article, "I am officially bυyiпg Boeiпg. Time to revolυtioпize aerospace." As of this writing, Musk has not shared such a statement.
Photos showing Musk alongside Boeing insignia are AI-generated
Two photos included in the article show "substantial evidence of manipulation," according to the online AI detection tool TrueMedia (archived here).
(Source: TrueMedia screenshot taken Tue Dec 24 16:57:00 2024 UTC)
This manipulation is evidenced by distorted features in the two photos, highlighted in red circles below, including hands missing or with additional fingers (top) and Musk's skewed and misplaced mouth (bottom image).
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken Tue Dec 24 16:32:00 2024 UTC)
Boeing did not announce the supposed purchase
Lead Stories searched through Boeing financial news releases (archived here) for any information on a potential Musk buyout of the company. As of this publication, the most recent press release was published on December 19, 2024. None of those publicly available on the company website announced that Musk purchased the aviation company.
Tender offers, by which an investor offers to buy out shares of a publicly traded company like Boeing, have to be posted with the Securities and Exchange Commission. No such sale was listed on the website as of this writing (archived here).
No reputable news outlets reported the buyout
Lead Stories searched the Google News index of thousands of reputable news reports for information involving "Elon Musk buys Boeing" (archived here). It returned many news reports, but none that corroborated Musk had bought Boeing as of this writing.
A search on Google News for the quote attributed to Musk about buying Boeing also did not return any results (archived here).
Read more
As of this publication, Snopes debunked a similar claim.
Other Lead Stories fact checks involving Elon Musk can be read here.
