Musk v Zuckerberg: Florence mayor proposes ‘match of minds’

The mayor of Florence is calling on tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to swap a spectacle of fisticuffs for a battle of wits in the birthplace of the Renaissance.

The Silicon Valley bigwigs have been proposing to fight each other in a charity match after each embarked on intense fitness regimes a few years ago.

Mr Musk is in talks with the Italian government about hosting his proposed cage fight with the Facebook founder at a historic site, but Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence, says a clash of ideas would be more civil.

“Let’s have a match of minds, of intelligence, not a physical, muscular duel,” Mr Nardella said in Sunday’s La Repubblica.

There has been growing speculation that the Colosseum would be the most apt venue for such titans of the tech world, but Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s culture minister, has ruled it out.

“It will not be held in Rome,” he said.

In response, Mr Nardella said he was prepared to step up to the task.

“I am ready to organise a clash of ideas and visions for the future in the Piazza della Signoria…something completely different that brings to mind the 1504 duel between Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.”

The two rival artistic geniuses faced off in Florence as part of a legendary formal competition in 1504, with each commissioned to paint massive murals of battles showing Florentine victories on opposite walls of the Palazzo Vecchio great hall.

Leonardo da Vinci had just started to paint the Mona Lisa and was 51 at the time, while Michelangelo Buonarroti was 23 years his junior and still finishing his sculpture of David. Neither murals were completed in the end, but the two mens’ mutual loathing and potential duel made history.

Mr Nardella, 47, said holding a tacky gladiator-style event in an ancient Roman site risked spreading unsavoury cultural stereotypes and raising topics like slavery and Roman persecution of the Christians, many of whom were tortured and sentenced to terrible deaths in Roman arenas.

Instead, the two could test their mental fortitude in front of Palazzo Vecchio on matters such as  “artificial intelligence, digital language, globalisation [which is] much more interesting than beating on each other inside the Colosseum”.

The proposal is likely to please the SpaceX founder’s mother, Maye Musk, who tweeted in June that her son and Mr Zuckerberg should “fight with words only. In arm chairs. Four feet apart. The funniest person wins”.

Earlier this week, the Meta Platforms founder and chief executive did not confirm a location had been found, but reiterated his readiness for a physical contest, noting he was not “holding his breath” for Mr Musk to agree to a date.

“I love this sport and I’ve been ready to fight since the day Elon challenged me,” he said on Threads. “If he ever agrees on an actual date, you’ll hear it from me. Until then, please assume anything he says has not been agreed on.”

Mr Zuckerberg has grown increasingly doubtful that the fight will go ahead after Mr Musk failed to agree on a date and complained of back problems. On Sunday Mr Zuckerberg posted on Threads: “I think we can all agree Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on.”