Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter), wants to cancel diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) — which he claims is just another kind of "discrimination."

"DEI must DIE," he posted on X on Dec. 15. "The point was to end discrimination, not replace it with different discrimination."

'Different discrimination'

DEI is a strategic priority for many organizations worldwide. The goal is to support different groups — including people of different races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, genders, and sexual orientations — in overcoming systemic discrimination through efforts such as training, mentorship and hiring programs.

However, DEI has received pushback from certain lawmakers and public figures, like the Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX CEO, who believe it has become a box-ticking exercise that entails reverse discrimination.

In December, a video was leaked on X, allegedly showing IBM (IBM) chief executive Arvind Krishna stating that bonuses would be tied to DEI hiring goals. Musk responded to the video, calling the action: "Extremely concerning and obviously illegal."

The leaked video landed just weeks after IBM suspended all advertising on X, with the statement: "IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination."

Advertisers flee from X

IBM is one of many major U.S. companies — including Apple (AAPL), Coca-Cola (KO), Disney (DIS), Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) and NBCUniversal parent Comcast (CMCSA) — to suspend their ads on X after Musk responded to an X post in November that claims Jewish people are stoking hatred against white people.