After learning that he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, billionaire and Free Speech Advocate Elon Musk said that he isn’t fighting censorship for personal gain and doesn't want any awards.
On Wednesday, Branko Grims, a member of the European Parliament, announced on Musk’s social media platform X.com that he had successfully nominated Musk for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize because of Musk’s “consistent support” for free-speech rights:
“The proposal that Mr. Elon Musk, for his consistent support for the fundamental human right of freedom of speech and thus for peace, receives the Nobel Peace Prize 2025, was successfully submitted today. Sincere thanks to all the co-proposers and everyone who helped with this challenging project!”
Grim included an image of a message from the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday informing him that his submission had been accepted.
Musk replied to Grimm’s post with a simple, five-word response:
“I don’t want any prizes”
Two Nobel Prize laureates have previously declined the award, Jean-Paul Sartre, who had a policy of declining all official honors, and Le Duc Tho, who felt he was not in a position to accept in the fallout after the end of the Vietnam War.
Four other laureates were forbidden to receive their awards by government authorities in their home countries, three by Germany under Adolf Hitler and one by the Soviet Union in 1958.
In October of 2022, Musk struck a powerful blow for free speech by purchasing Twitter, renaming it “X.com,” restoring the accounts of conservatives who had been banned by the previously leftist controlled platform and instituting several free speech reforms.
Since his acquisition of the platform, Musk has been a public, vocal and powerful advocate of free speech in all its realms.
Musk is one of a multitude of nominations and would have to survive a months-long process of weeding out candidates by the Nobel committee, according to procedure detailed on the Nobel website.
I don’t want any prizes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 29, 2025