Apple vs Fortnite: Elon Musk Says Apple Fees are De Facto Global Tax

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, expressed his support for Epic Games, the creator of “Fortnite,” which has challenged Apple App Store fees.

“Apple app store fees are a de facto global tax on the Internet. Epic is right,” he said in a tweet.

Apple app store fees are a de facto global tax on the Internet. Epic is right.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2021

Epic Games launched a lawsuit against Apple last year, alleging that the iPhone maker abused its market dominance in mobile apps. To avoid Apple’s commissions, Epic breached Apple’s rules by introducing its own in-app payment system in “Fortnite.”

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The company has defended its App Store procedures in court and in appearances before Congress.

Musk late on Friday said that though he likes using Apple products, the iPhone maker is “overcharging with App Store”.

“I mean 30% fees for doing almost zero incremental work is completely unreasonable. Epic wouldn’t bother processing their own payments if App Store fees were fair,” he tweeted.

Separately, Musk rejected a story that he had a conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook about the possibility of buying Tesla and taking over as the company’s CEO.

“There was a point where I requested to meet with Cook to talk about Apple buying Tesla. There were no conditions of acquisition proposed whatsoever. He refused to meet,” Musk said in another tweet.

Musk took jabs at Apple on Tesla’s call with Wall Street analysts earlier this week, criticizing the company’s “walled garden,” or tightly controlled tech ecosystem, as well as its use of cobalt, a vital mineral for creating lithium-ion batteries.

“I don’t want to be CEO of anything,” Musk tweeted in response to a comment.

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