Fact Check

Did Elon Musk Buy GM?

"Elon Musk just announced he is buying General Motors," one YouTube video falsely claimed.

Published Jan. 26, 2023

A sign is seen outside of General Motors on Jan. 27, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images) (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
A sign is seen outside of General Motors on Jan. 27, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
Claim:
Elon Musk bought General Motors.

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.

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, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i8DUkEbq0w.

Liles, 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.

Jordan Liles is a Senior Reporter who has been with Snopes since 2016.

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