--- title: "Elon Musk’s Teen Stalker Yeets Himself Into 15 Minutes of Fame" description: "One Florida teen is converting Elon Musk's anger at him into his very own 15 minutes of fame. " date: "2022-02-03" modified: "2022-02-03" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-stalker-fame" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "private jet" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk’s Teen Stalker Yeets Himself Into 15 Minutes of Fame ![One Florida teen is converting Elon Musk's anger at him into his very own 15 minutes of fame. ]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Hatred Powered One Florida teen is converting Elon Musk's anger into his very own 15 minutes of fame. Last week, 19-year-old Jack Sweeney made headlines when Musk tried [and failed]() to get him to delete an automated Twitter account that tracks the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's private jet flightpaths. For Sweeney, the paltry $5,000 offer from the world's richest man was far from enough — but he told Musk that $50,000 and an internship might do the trick. Although Musk told Sweeney he'd consider the proposal, he's since [ghosted and blocked]() the University of Central Florida student, the tech news site [*Protocol* reported]() — and that's when the real "fun" began. ## Bot Net Sweeney has since [told *The Guardian*]() that he also has bots tracking private jets owned by, among dozens of others, the rapper Drake and billionaires Mark Cuban and Bill Gates. Some of the bots are [on Twitter](), but he's also set up a rudimentary "[Ground Control]()" site to sell bespoke tracking to monied fanboys (which, to be clear, feels like an invasion of privacy and also seems to be a poor use of this kid's enviable flight-tracking skills). Beyond just selling his bot services, however, Sweeney told *Business Insider* that he's now [selling shirts]() to fund Ground Control that feature the infamous still frame of Musk smoking weed on Joe Rogan's show in 2018, along with the pithy catchphrase "I Know How High Elon Is." Though he's currently in the business of tracking the flights of the uber-rich, Sweeney told *The New York Post* that he's [been offered a job]() with the Jacksonville-based Stratos Jet Charters company, which is perhaps best known for [accepting Bitcoin for private jet charters](). While it's easy to get swept up in the clout this teen is trying to build around himself with the willful help of hungry media, so much of this story — from Sweeney's passive dismissal of [privacy issues]() to the [memelord merch]() he's selling — drive home the fact that the star of this story is just a kid. He may not be [West Elm Caleb](), but the "Elon Teen" might be a little in over his head — or, at very least, may be letting all the attention gas him up [as much as the billionaire]() who's made him momentarily famous. **READ MORE:** [The teen tracking Elon Musk's jet also does Jeff Bezos' and 125 others: I can make 'some kind of business out of this']() \[*CNBC*\] **More on Musk:** *[Former Employees Say Elon Musk Was An Absolutely Terrible Boss]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()