Elon Musk vs Mukesh Ambani: Why is Tesla, SpaceX CEO attacking Reliance Industries ahead of Jio Platforms IPO launch?

belowElon Musk vs Mukesh Ambani: After a direct attack on Mukesh Ambani on Friday last week, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is now targeting Reliance Industries Ltd — an Indian multinational conglomerate, founded by Mukesh Ambani's father, Late Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1958. After taking a jibe at the Indian government by calling Mukesh Ambani ‘Prime Minister Ambani’, the CEO of SpaceX, the parent company of the Starlink satellite internet constellation, has shared Reliance Industries-backed firms' donation to the Indian political party BJP, which is the principal party in the ruling coalition NDA in New Delhi.

According to stock market investors, Elon Musk's Starlink, which is mulling entry into the Indian market, will be a peer of Reliance Industries' Jio Platforms. As the SpaceX subsidiary is yet to come up with a clear picture, like price, valuation, timeline, etc, Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms IPO price band has been announced at ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 per equity share, and RIL's venture is all set to hit the Indian primary market anytime. These attacks should be seen as a business competition between the two major players, who have a history of dominating the market they work. Since Jio Platform has the luxury of understanding the Indian market and its target audience, Elon Musk's Starlink has the luxury of entering a new market and establishing a monopoly before entering the market. Their Kenyan venture is a glaring example of it, say experts.

See Elon Musk's tweet on India

Is Jio Platforms' IPO a bone of contention?

Decoding the recent swipes of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Mukesh Ambani and his Reliance Industries, Mahesh M Ojha, VP — Research and Business Development at KC Securities, said, “We do not need to see any political angle in it. It is a race against time, where two top businessmen compete. Mukesh Ambani, whose Jio Platforms would be a peer to Elon Musk's Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX. While Elon Musk is yet to come up with a clear picture about Starlink, such as price, valuation, timeline, etc., Mukesh Ambani is already in business and has decided to demerge his business from the Jio Platform's brand parent, Reliance Industries Ltd.”

Jio platforms vs Starlink

Comparing the two businesses, Sandeep Pandey, Co-founder of Basav Capital, said, “Jio Platforms has the luxury of executing business plans through the existing business network and the understanding of the target audience. On the other hand, Starlink will have the luxury of tapping a new market and competing against the existing giants. One needs to remember how Musk established Starlink in markets like Kenya to ⁠unsettle local telecom players. So, the two companies and their masters know the art of establishing their businesses, and it would be important to see how this war of words unfolds in India.”

Elon Musk speaks on Starlink India price, plans

According to Reuters, Elon Musk said he would price Starlink's satellite internet service affordably in India to take on Mukesh Ambani's low-cost Reliance Jio, ​escalating his attacks on the rival billionaire days before Jio's parent ‌company launches India's largest-ever IPO.

Jio Platforms, which owns the telecom arm, is targeting a $106 billion valuation for the offering. Much like SpaceX-owned Starlink (SPCX.O), Jio's own satellite venture is also awaiting final ​security clearance to launch.

Cheap data is the playbook that built Jio in ​India, and the one Musk has used in markets like Kenya to ⁠unsettle local telecom players. SpaceX now plans to enter the mobile carrier market ​itself, starting in the US.

Musk did not specify prices for India, where mobile data ​costs about 8 cents per gigabyte, among the lowest in the world.

"Obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing ​affordable," he said in a post on his social media platform X ​on Saturday.

"The reality is that competition would greatly benefit the average citizen in India by giving ‌them ⁠more choices, as it always does. Ambani's profits will be lower, but he is not going out of business," Musk added.

Can Musk justify Trump's tariffs?

On his swipe at the Indian government aiding Mukesh Ambani in this business rivalry, Sandeep Pandey of Basav Capital said, “His allegations are baseless, and the GoI has already cleared its stand on it. However, I would like to add that a democratically elected government is fulfilling its duty if it ensures the safety of local businessmen or business conglomerates. Even Donald Trump is doing the same in the US by levying tariffs on the business partner countries.”

The Basav Capital Co-founder said that Elon Musk and other US-based business houses, and their respective heads, should be thankful to the Indian government for not levying any counter-tariffs in retaliation for Trump's tariffs.

Is Musk making money by attacking Mukesh Ambani, RIL?

Pointing towards the ‘lobbying’ angle, Mahesh M Ojha of KC Securities, said, “In India, lobbying is illegal, but in the US, this practice is legal. It is well known that Elon Musk is a close aide of US President Donald Trump, who is publicly unhappy with the Indian government over its continuous Russian oil imports. So, we can't deny that recent swipes by Elon Musk on the Indian government by using Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries as a proxy might be a part of his money-making operations.”

However, the KC Securities expert made it clear that this is mere speculation; he has nothing to prove except that lobbying is legal in the US and is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees the right to petition the government. However, lobbying is subject to registration, disclosure and ethics rules. Both Tesla and SpaceX have registered to lobby the federal government in the United States. Official US government lobbying disclosure records show filings for each company under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.