Phony Stark

English

Etymology

Blend of phony (“fraudulent or fake”) +‎ Tony Stark, referencing the fictional business magnate, inventor, and playboy from the Marvel franchise.

Proper noun

Phony Stark

(derogatory) A nickname for South African-born tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Synonyms: Apartheid Clyde, Elmo, Elongated Muskrat
- 2022 November 10, Muhammad (@muhammad@mastodon.social), Mastodon‎^[1]:
  so, yeah, five years on and people on Twitter just kinda endured the Nazis, but now Phony Stark might just tank the whole thing anyway.
- 2022 November 24, “Black Twitter hilariously mourns death of Elon Musk's Twitter after 'mass exodus' of employees”, in New York Beacon, page 2:
  Twitter will be remembered as a vibrant, ambitious youth who hosted hundreds of millions of followers before it was viciously murdered by a villain who goes by many names, such as Phony Stark, Lex Loser and Apartheid Vader—but most people refer to him as Elon.
- 2023 February 6, Simon Zerafa (@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange), Mastodon‎^[2]:
  Phony Stark seems to want to drive Twitter off a cliff for whatever reason.
- 2023 April 5, Leon Cowle (@leoncowle@hachyderm.io), Mastodon‎^[3]:
  I'm not mad at anything Phony Stark does to Twitter. I am mad (or at least dumbfounded) at respectable professionals still using that service, though.
- 2023 October 10, Marina Hyde, “Look at the horror of the Israel-Hamas war, then at Elon Musk’s X site. It’s clear he’s not fit to run it”, in The Guardian:
  “As always,” Elon patronised, “please try to stay as close to the truth as possible, even for stuff you don’t like.” Likewise, Phony Stark. Likewise.
- 2025 September 10, Tron Snow, “Phony Stark AKA Elon Musk Accuses New York Times of “Anti-Whiteness,” Wants To Know Why The B In Black Is Capitalized”, in New York Metropolitan‎^[4], archived from the original on 7 October 2025:
  Phony Stark AKA Elon Musk continues to champion for caucasians and is now attacking AP Style guidelines because the W in the word white isn’t capitalized. ¶ We sh*t you not, Elon Musk is now accusing the New York Times of “deliberate” and “comprehensive” anti-white racism.