Elon Musk blew out a disc in his neck after trying to perform a “judo throw” on a 350-pound sumo wrestling champion during a Japanese-themed birthday party for the billionaire, according to a new book.
The injury, suffered in 2013, appears to be the same one that recently reared up again to derail the touted “cage fight” between the Tesla CEO and his tech arch-rival, Mark Zuckerberg.
The steampunk-themed bash was organized by British actress Talulah Riley and held at a castle in Tarrytown, New York, to celebrate Musk’s 42nd birthday. The two got married in 2010, divorced two years later, and remarried a few months afterward.
Musk, dressed as a samurai warrior, was summoned into a ring by a sumo champion for the demonstration, according to author Walter Isaacson’s just-released biography of the Tesla mogul titled “Elon Musk.”
“I went full strength at him to try a judo throw, because I thought he was trying to take it easy on me,” Musk told Isaacson.
“I decided to see if I could throw this guy, and I did. But I also blew out a disc at the base of my neck.”
Since then, Musk has suffered from chronic back and neck pain, according to Isaacson.
The pain prompted Musk to undergo three surgeries to fix the C5-C6 intervertebral disc.
Weeks after the party, Riley and Musk divorced again — this time for good.
Musk’s physical condition deteriorated to the point where there were moments when he needed to lie flat on the floor with an ice pack at the base of his neck during business meetings at Tesla or SpaceX facilities, according to the book.
A herniated disc in the lower back or neck is sustained when one of the rubbery cushions that sit between the bones of one’s spine — also known as the vertebrae — is ruptured.
According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms can include arm or leg pain, numbness or tingling, and weakness in the muscles.
Last month, Musk, 52, said he was planning on getting a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on his neck and upper back.
The mogul, whose fortune is estimated at $245 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, announced on X that he may require another surgery, putting off the possible cage match.
After meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, Musk indicated that he would still be willing to fight Zuckerberg, who has chronicled his intensive mixed martial arts training regiment on social media.
“If he wants to,” Musk said when asked by reporters whether the fight was still on, according to news site The Hill.
Zuckerberg sat far from Musk on the opposite end of a long table during the Congressional hearing on artificial intelligence in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. Last month, Zuckerberg wrote on his “Twitter killer” app Threads that his foe was bluffing about getting into any kind of ring with him.
“Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on,” Zuckerberg wrote, putting the highly anticipated fight on ice — at least for now.
The Post has sought comment from X.
Source
