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Musk

Confirmed   24,198

Part of a series on Elon Musk. [View Related Entries]


Elon Musk in a grey blazer

Elon Musk Buys and Deletes

Part of a series on Elon Musk. [View Related Entries]

Updated Jan 29, 2025 at 08:49PM EST by LiterallyAustin.

Added Nov 06, 2018 at 01:32PM EST by Matt.

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

About

Elon Musk Buys and Deletes refers to a series of mock news stories that state that Tesla-founder Elon Musk has purchased something and eliminated it. The meme rose to prominence after Musk himself shared the image proclaiming that he bought and deleted the video game Fortnite.

Origin

The earliest known usage of the meme was posted in the /r/funny subreddit on October 19th, 2018 by Redditor[1] The-shadowxz. The post, a parody of an article written by MarketWatch writer Mike Murphy, features the headline "Elon Musk buys Fortnite and deletes it." It also contains the fake quote, which is attributed to Musk: "I had to save these kids from eternal virginity." The post received more than 11,000 points (87% upvoted) and 560 comments in less than three weeks (shown below).


Elon Musk buys Fortnite and deletes it By Mike Murphy Published: Oct 10, 2018 7:49 pm ET "I had to save these kids from eternal virginity" Elon Musk

Spread

That day, Musk tweeted [2] the photograph and added the comment, "Had to been done ur welcome." The tweet received more than 400,000 retweets and 1.2 million likes (shown below, left).

Over the next month, people parodied the post by changing what Musk bought and what he did with the item. On October 21st, in the /r/Kanye subreddit Redditor[3] harrymcg96 posted, "Elon Musk buys Yandhi and releases it." The post received more than 3,500 points in less than one month (shown below, center).

The following day, Redditor[4] Glenny08 posted a photoshopped version in the /r/HistoryMemes subreddit. The post shows Musk in a Roman helmet and the caption "Elon Musk buys Italy and restores the Roman Empire." The post received more than 34,000 points (89% upvoted) and 245 comments in less than three weeks (shown below, right).


Elon Musk @elonmusk Had to been done ur welcome Elon Musk buys Fortnite and deletes it By Mike Murphy Published: Oct 10, 2018 7:49 pm ET "I had to save these kids from eternal virginity" Elon Musk Elon Musk @elonmusk Had to been done ur welcome Elon Musk buys Yandhi and releases it By Mike Murphy Published: Oct 10, 2018 7:49 pm ET "just spoke to Kanye, he said what up, Yelon?"- Elon Musk 19/10/2018, 10:01 pm Elon Musk @elonmusk Had to been done ur welcome Elon Musk buys Italy and restores the Roman Empire By Mike Murphy Published: Oct 10, 2018 7:49 pm ET "Someone had to do it" YSPO

Various Examples


@elonmusk Oct 19 Elon Musk @ Save Had to been done ur welcome Elon Musk buys Egypt and crowns himself Pharaoh By Mike Murphy Published: Oct 10.2018 7:49 pm ET 0000 gonna build a pyramid for mo salah - Elon Musk NO NUT NOVEMBER Elon Musk Buys Amy Schumer to feature in all p--- videos ever created to prevent people from fapping in No Nut November Elon Musk @elonmusk Following When I figured Jesus wasn't going to help y'all, I had to come to the rescue 12:31 AM-3 Nov 2018 2,348 Retweets 37,014 Likes Elon Musk @elonmusk Had to been done ur welcome Elon Musk buys the IB and gives everyone 7s By Mike Murphy Published: Oct 10, 20187:49 pm ET "Someone had to do it" I1
Elon Musk @elonmusk Had to been done ur welcome Elon Musk buys your problems, sadness, loneliness and deletes them By Mike Murphy Published: Oct 10, 2018 7:49 pm ET 10/19/18, 16:01 Elon Musk @elonmusk Had to been done ur welcome Elon Musk buys the Eagles and releases everyone By Mike Murphy Published: Oct 10, 2018 7:49 pm ET "Go Cowboys", Musk said Elon Musk buys Pewdiepie Channel and he renames it to P-Series By Mike Murphy Published: Oct 10, 2018 7:49 pm ET So guys we did it, we saved youtube and Felix Kjelburghitler. Elon Musk

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