Elon Musk: Apple App Store fees 'de facto global tax on the internet'

Elon Musk
Elon Musk (Image credit: Recode)

What you need to know

  • Elon Musk has weighed in on Apple's App Store.
  • Musk says its App Store fees are a "de facto global tax on the Internet"
  • He says that Epic Games is right in its legal action against the company.

Elon Musk has weighed in on Apple's App Store, saying that Apple's App Store fees are a "de facto global tax on the Internet".

Taking to Twitter Musk stated:

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

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Musk neglected to mention that Apple's iOS ecosystem is only one of a number of ways people can access the internet, but didn't expand on his comments.

It seems Musk had Apple on the brain, making the comments following a story about his alleged attempt to become Apple CEO breaking shortly prior. From our previous report:

An outrageous new book from WSJ's Tim Higgins reportedly claims that Elon Musk demanded to be made Apple CEO when the company nearly bought Tesla in 2016.A review of 'Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century' by Tim Higgins from the LA Times states:Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk are talking on the phone. The 2016 unveiling of the make-it-or-break-it Model 3 is coming soon, but Tesla is in serious financial trouble. Cook has an idea: Apple buys Tesla.Musk is interested, but one condition: "I'm CEO."Sure, says Cook. When Apple bought Beats in 2014, it kept on the founders, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre.No, Musk says. Apple. Apple CEO."F— you" Cook says, and hangs up.

It's the second potshot taken by Musk at Apple this week, after telling shareholders Tesla didn't want to create a "walled garden" around its charger network and criticizing the company for using cobalt in its batteries.

Musk reportedly made a bid to sell Tesla to Apple at around one-tenth of its current valuation during the 'darkest days' of the Model 3, according to Musk, who says that Tim Cook refused to even take a meeting with him.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9