Pablo Escobar's brother plans to sue Elon Musk for stealing his flamethrower idea
It really is no secret that Tesla bigwig Elon Musk has his share of haters and has been called various names, but this is perhaps the first time that an Escobar has accused him of stealing. Robert De Jesus Escobar Gaviria, 72, the brother of late Medellín Cartel drug lord Pablo Escobar, has plans to sue Musk for his famous flamethrower, claiming that Musk stole the idea from him.
Escobar, who used to be an accountant for the King of Cocaine, said that Musk's product "Not-a-Flamethrower" was created from a concept that he gave to one of Musk's engineers months before they were released by Musk's Boring Company.
The said engineer, who was not identified, was employed by Musk in 2017, Gaviria claims. The flamethrowers sold out its stock of 20,000 within a few days. Responding on Twitter to the claims, Musk had said, "It’s Not a Flamethrower, Mr Escobar."
However, he will pursue legal action, Gaviria told the Telegraph. Escobar said that the idea for the flamethrower had been that of a toy inspired by the family's stories of starting a fire with money just so they could keep warm.
“We will soon file a $100 million case against him in America, and I will try my best to make sure he loses his stronghold in Tesla Inc,” Escobar said, “He knows exactly what he has done to us.”
He also added in the interview that he was planning to launch a product and meant to make it bigger than Apple in around 4 years.
"I need around four years to make it bigger than Apple. Things move fast in technology. Within the next month, we are going to launch our first product, I cannot tell you what it is, but it will be much better than anything Apple ever did," Gavira said, adding that they had plans to launch a secret rival product to bring Apple down.
Escobar had earlier sued Netflix for its show 'Narcos', which was based on the life of his brother, seeking a share of the profits made from the show. He has also trademarked the family name.
"This is a friendly request for cooperation – all we want is to make sure things are done right,” he said at the time, “I hope you are not profiting from my show, and if you are I ask you to share some profits with us.”
Calling the show a far cry from the real story, he said, “My brother would not have liked season one. Maybe he will enjoy season two if you respond to me and we solve these issues.”
The TV series has aired three seasons and has a special named 'Narcos: Mexico' which was initially meant to be the fourth season. However, the spin-off was also renewed for a second season in December 2018.