The gloves are (about to be) off: Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg show no signs of backing down from their commitment to a supposed cage fight.
Rumours of a fight between the Twitter owner and the boss of Meta have been swirling for weeks.
But how did the idea start, is the fight actually going to happen – and who might win if it does?
Be careful what you tweet – it might just come true
The spiralling plans for a bare knuckle fight between the tech billionaires started with an offhand remark from Musk.
Amid a discussion about plans for Threads, Meta’s rival Twitter app, Musk tweeted, “I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb”, and followed up with “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.”
Zuckerberg took the bait. “Send me location” he posted on Instagram alongside a screenshot of Musk’s message.
Musk responded simply: “Vegas Octagon”, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) arena in Las Vegas.
“Both guys are absolutely dead serious about this,” he told TMZ Live.
Mr White has been in regular contact with the pair and an outline of plans is being drawn up, according to a report by the New York Times.
He told the newspaper it would be an exhibition match, outside official UFC jurisdiction, and would have some kind of charity element.
“It will be the biggest fight in the history of combat sports,” he said.
What fighting experience do they have?
Zuckerberg outstrips Musk when it comes to experience. The Facebook founder has taken up jiu-jitsu and won gold and silver medals in his first ever tournament.
Musk has previously admitted he rarely works out “except for picking up my kids and throwing them in the air”.
“I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus’, where I just lie on top of my opponent and do nothing,” Musk tweeted.
Zuckerberg seems to be the natural choice for a winner. As well as jiu-jitsu training, he has taken on fitness challenges including the “Murph” which involves doing hundreds of squats, push-ups and pull-ups while wearing a weighted vest.
At 39, he is also 13 years younger than Musk, who is 52.
Where Musk dominates is size. He is around 6ft 1in to Zuckerberg’s 5ft 7ins and 13st 5lb to his 11st – a difference of several weight classes.
Musk has said he trained in judo, kyokushin – a style of karate – and no rules street fighting, but admitted this was “very dated”.
Image: Pic: AP
What’s all this about the Colosseum?
Musk set the hearts of Gladiator fans racing when he suggested the fight could happen in the home of gladiatorial contests.
“Some chance fight happens in the Colosseum,” he tweeted.
The Italian Ministry of Culture had absolutely 100% offered the 2000-year-old Roman amphitheatre, if a report by TMS Sports was to be believed.
It wasn’t, according to the Italian government, who told the outlet there had been no formal contact “even if the news appears tasty”.
The ministry reportedly added: “If Zuckerberg and Musk wanted to perform in the Colosseum they would have to make a non-violent challenge.”
Donald Trump has revealed a list of more nations set to face delayed ‘liberation day’ tariffs from 1 August.
He has threatened tariffs of 30% on Algeria, 25% on Brunei, 30% on Iraq, 30% on Libya, 25% on Moldova and 20% on the Philippines. Sri Lanka was later told it faced a 30% duty.
Letters setting out the planned rates – and warning against retaliation – are being sent to the leaders of each country.
They were the latest to be informed of the president‘s plans after Japan and South Korea were among the first 14 nations to be told of the rates they must pay on their general exports to the US from 1 August.
The duties are on top of sectoral tariffs, covering areas such as steel and cars, already in place.
Mr Trump further warned, on Tuesday, that a 50% tariff rate on all copper imports to the US was looming.
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He has also threatened a 200% rate on pharmaceuticals and is also expected to take aim at all imports of semiconductors too.
The European Union, America’s largest trading partner in combined trade, services and investment, is expected to get a letter within the next 48 hours unless further progress is made in continuing talks.
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Who will be positively impacted by the UK-US trade deal?
The bloc, which Mr Trump has previously claimed was created to “screw” the US, has been in negotiations with US officials for weeks and working to agree a UK-style truce by the end of the month.
The EU has retaliatory tariffs ready to deploy from 14 July but it is widely expected to delay them until such time that any heightened US duties are imposed.
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Trump to visit UK ‘in weeks’
It remains hopeful of a deal in the coming days but European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament: “We stick to our principles, we defend our interests, we continue to work in good faith, and we get ready for all scenarios.”
While the UK’s so-called deal with Mr Trump is now in force, it remains unclear whether steelmakers will have to pay a 50% tariff rate, deployed by the US against the rest of the world, as some final details on an exemption are yet to be worked out.
The value of its shares has risen by 409,825% since its market debut in 1999.
Its status has been cemented thanks to the rush for AI technology – suffering several wobbles along the way – but nothing significant when you refer to the percentage rise of the past 26 years.
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The most recent pressures have come from the emergence of the low-cost chatbot DeepSeek and concerns for global AI demand as a result of Donald Trump’s trade war hitting growth.
Financial markets have been taking a more risk-on approach to the trade war since the delays to “liberation day” tariffs in April.
It’s explained by a market trend that’s become known as the TACO trade: Trump always chickens out.
Image: The milestone is reported by Sky’s US partner CNBC, seen on screens at the New York Stock Exchange. Pic: Reuters
It has helped US stock markets post new record highs in recent days.
The wave of optimism is down to the fact that the president is yet to follow through with the worst of his threatened tariffs on trading partners.
Corporations are also yet to report big hits to their earnings – a fact that is also propping up demand for shares.
If Mr Trump does go all-out in his trade war, as he has now threatened from 1 August, then that $4trn market value for Nvidia – and wider stock markets – could be short-lived, at least in the short term.
But market analysts believe Nvidia’s value has further to go.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said of its meteoric rise: “Once known for powering video games, NVIDIA has transformed into a foundational player in AI infrastructure.
“Its high-performance chips now drive everything from natural language processing to robotics, making them essential to training and deploying advanced AI models.
“Beyond hardware, its full-stack ecosystem – including software platforms and developer tools – helps companies scale AI quickly and efficiently. This end-to-end approach has positioned Nvidia as a cornerstone in a market where speed, scalability, and efficiency are critical.”
He added: “The key question is where it goes from here, and while it might seem strange for a company that’s just passed the $4trn mark, Nvidia still looks attractive.
“Growth is expected to slow, and it’s likely to lose some market share as competition and custom solutions ramp up. But trading at a relatively modest 32 times expected earnings, and over 50% top-line growth forecast this year, there’s still an attractive opportunity ahead.
“For investors, it remains a compelling way to gain exposure to the AI boom – not just as a participant, but as one of its architects.”
The future of the UK economy is weaker and more uncertain due to President Trump’s tariffs and conflict in the Middle East, the Bank of England has said.
“The outlook for UK growth over the coming year is a little weaker and more uncertain,” the central bank said in its biannual health check of the UK’s financial system.
Economic and financial risks have increased since the last report was published in November, as global unpredictability continued after the announcement of country-specific tariffs on 2 April, the Bank’s Financial Stability Report said.
These risks and uncertainty, as well as geopolitical tensions, like the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, are “particularly relevant” to UK financial stability as an open economy with a large financial sector, it said.
Pressures on government borrowing costs are “still elevated” amid significant doubts over the global economic outlook.
Had a 90-day pause on tariffs not been announced, conditions could have worsened, the report added.
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The chance of prices rising overall has also grown as tensions between Iran and Israel and the US threaten to push up energy prices.
Possible higher inflation in turn raises the prospect of more expensive borrowing from higher interest rates to bring down those price rises. This compounds the pressure on state borrowing costs.
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Trump’s tariffs: What you need to know
Mortgages
Borrowing costs for about 40% of mortgage holders are set to become costlier over the next three years as households refix to more expensive deals, affecting 3.6 million households, the Bank said.
Many homes have not refixed their mortgage since interest rates began to rise in 2021, meaning the full impact of higher rates has yet to filter through.
Those looking to get on the property ladder got a boost as the Bank said lenders could issue more loans deemed to be risky, meaning people could be able to borrow more.
Financial institutions can now have 15% of their new mortgages deemed risky every year, up from the current 9.7%.
Riskier mortgages are those with a loan value above 4.5 times the borrower’s income.
Be ‘prepared for shocks’
Despite the global and domestic economy concerns, the outlook for UK household and business resilience remained “strong”, the Bank said.
Investors, however, were warned that there could be “sharp falls in risky asset prices”, which include shares and currencies.
If there are any vulnerabilities in non-bank lenders, it “could amplify such moves, potentially affecting the availability and cost of credit in the UK”.
“It is important that in their risk management, market participants [people involved in investing] are prepared for such shocks.”
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The steep market reaction following the tariff announcements in April “highlights that the interconnectedness of global financial markets can mean stress from one market can move quickly to others,” the report said.
Overall, though, “household and corporate borrowers remain resilient”, the Bank concluded.