What is Elon Musk Buys And Deletes?

It is a mock news headline meme where a fake article claims Musk has bought something and eliminated it, first posted in October 2018.

Where did Elon Musk Buys And Deletes come from?

Redditor The-shadowxz posted the original Fortnite version to r/funny on October 19th, 2018, styled as a parody MarketWatch article.

What does Elon Musk Buys And Deletes mean?

The format uses Musk's billionaire buyer persona to fantasize about erasing something the poster dislikes, paired with an absurd fake quote from Musk justifying it.

How do you use Elon Musk Buys And Deletes?

Posters swap the target in the headline ("Elon Musk buys X and deletes it") and often photoshop the accompanying image, as with the Roman Empire and Yandhi variants.

Is Elon Musk Buys And Deletes still popular?

The format peaked in late October 2018 after Musk himself tweeted the Fortnite version to 1.2 million likes, and is now treated as a classic Reddit format.

Elon Musk Buys And Deletes

2018image macroclassic

Published August 19, 2026

Elon Musk Buys And Deletes is an image macro format from October 2018 that mocks up fake news headlines claiming Musk has purchased something and eliminated it. The template took off after Musk himself tweeted the original Fortnite version, spawning countless variants swapping in different targets and outcomes.

elon musk memes hoax memes exploitable templates photoshop memes 2018 memes

Overview

Elon Musk Buys And Deletes is a fake news headline format where a mocked-up article claims the Tesla founder has bought some product, franchise, or concept and then wiped it from existence1. The image is styled to look like a legitimate MarketWatch story, complete with a photo of Musk and a fabricated pull quote justifying the deletion3.

The joke works because it plays on Musk's public image as an extravagant billionaire who buys things impulsively, paired with a wish-fulfillment punchline aimed at whatever the poster dislikes that week. Remixes swap out the target, sometimes with photoshopped visuals to match the new subject5.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Reddit (r/funny) / Twitter (viral spread)

Creator

The-shadowxz

Date

2018

The first known version was posted on October 19th, 2018 by Redditor The-shadowxz in r/funny1. The image parodied a real MarketWatch article by writer Mike Murphy and carried the headline "Elon Musk buys Fortnite and deletes it," alongside the invented Musk quote "I had to save these kids from eternal virginity"3. The post pulled in more than 11,000 points at an 87% upvote ratio and over 560 comments within roughly three weeks1.

How It Spread

Later that same day, Musk tweeted the image with the caption "Had to been done ur welcome," which racked up more than 400,000 retweets and 1.2 million likes2. The endorsement from the subject of the joke pushed the format well past its original subreddit and gave it a template that other communities could copy.

On October 21st, 2018, Redditor harrymcg96 posted a Kanye West variant to r/Kanye reading "Elon Musk buys Yandhi and releases it," a reference to West's delayed album, which earned over 3,500 points in under a month4. The following day, Redditor Glenny08 uploaded a photoshopped edit to r/HistoryMemes showing Musk in a Roman helmet under the headline "Elon Musk buys Italy and restores the Roman Empire," which climbed past 34,000 points and 245 comments over the next three weeks5.

The format kept generating variants throughout late 2018 as posters plugged in whatever target fit their subreddit, from video games to political situations to obscure fandom grievances3.

How to Use This Meme

The template typically starts with a screenshot styled after a real news outlet, often MarketWatch, with Musk's headshot and a headline in the pattern "Elon Musk buys X and [deletes/releases/restores] it." A fake quote attributed to Musk usually appears below the headline explaining his reasoning in absurd terms. Photoshopped variants sometimes swap the headshot for a costumed version of Musk to match the subject.