Claim:

In November 2024, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that he had bought Ford Motor Company.

In November 2024, videos surfaced on social media alleging that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had purchased Ford, one of the biggest names in the American automotive industry, without any evidence to corroborate the claim. The assertion was unfounded.

It was not the first time unfounded rumors about Musk acquiring Ford had spread on YouTube. Snopes found several videos dating back to June 2023 alleging that Musk had purchased the brand. These videos all appeared with titles like “Elon Musk OFFICIALLY bought Ford! | HUGE NEWS!” Artificial intelligence (AI) video-creation tools seemingly helped create some of the video’s narration, scripting, and sequencing.

As an example, one video’s narrator said:

“Did you know that Ford produces a new F-150 truck every 52 seconds? Now …

Videos on YouTube alleged that the Tesla CEO had expanded his automotive business.