Did Elon Musk buy Ohio State University?

After Elon Musk‘s public and controversial purchase of Twitter, the world collectively realized that we really can’t put anything above a billionaire’s whims.  Since purchasing the app, the tech mogul has shown repeatedly that he’s more than capable of saying ridiculous things and making bad decisions. So, when a crazy headline like “Elon Musk buys Ohio State University” comes out, it’s only fair to question whether it’s true or not. 

Why do people think Elon Musk bought Ohio State?

An article from last year claiming that Elon Musk purchased Ohio State University has resurfaced, and it’s a pretty wild story. The article, published in The Sundial, claimed that Musk tweeted a poll on X asking if he should purchase the university, which ultimately ended with 57.5% of participants answering that he should, in fact, do it. Moreover, the article claimed that Musk demanded to be called CEO of the university, instead of President and planned to “run this university like a business.” Musk allegedly added, “You’ve seen what I’ve done with Twitter. Well, that’s what Ohio State is going to look like pretty soon!”

The Tesla CEO reportedly laid out his big plans for the university, such as students accessing their courses on X, and exams being graded through polls voted on by fellow students. He also allegedly instated The Joe Rogan Experience podcast as a mandatory daily listen for all students, replaced the school’s GrubHub food robots with Tesla robots, and placed an $8 surcharge on every swipe of a student ID card. 

Finally, if you hadn’t called the article’s bluff already, The Sundial also claimed that Musk planned on building a new Ohio State University branch campus on Mars. He was quoted in a statement saying, “But it’ll just be for the girls- the boys will go to Jupiter to get more stupider.” Elon Musk can be a comical figure, but he’s surely not this silly, right?

Did Elon really buy the University?

As hilarious as it would be if the tech mogul did decide to purchase a renowned university by asking on a Twitter poll, this news isn’t true. For those unaware, The Sundial is actually the official humor magazine of Ohio State University. Humor magazines are satirical magazines, often run by university students in comedy clubs, and publish fictional and satirical stories. 

The Sundial was founded in 1911 and is one of the oldest college humor magazines in the country. Every article posted via the publication is either completely fictional, or an exaggerated satire, and this is no different. The Sundial isn’t the only college magazine to publish a fictional article about their university being purchased by Elon Musk. A few months ago, The Stanford Daily published a similar article in its humor section that claimed that Musk had reportedly purchased the university and planned to rename it “X, formerly known as Leland Stanford Junior University,” or X-fka-LSJU for short. Evidently, the popularity of both articles proved that the idea of Musk making a ridiculous financial decision isn’t so far-fetched to many people.