Elon Musk calls diver who helped save boys in Thailand a 'pedo'

Unfortunately for Elon Musk, all the money in the world can't buy you a thicker skin.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO lashed out Sunday on Twitter at a British diver who criticized him for sending a mini-submarine to the cave in Thailand where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped for more than a week. Vern Unsworth played a major role in the rescue, and told CNN on Saturday the mini-submarine was "just a PR stunt" with "absolutely no chance" of working.

In now-deleted tweets, Musk said he "never saw this British expat guy," and there was video of the rescue that proved Unsworth wrong. Musk followed up by saying, "You know what, don't bother showing the video. We will make one of the mini-sub/pod going all the way to Cave 5 no problemo. Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it." Unsworth told The Guardian on Monday he was "astonished and very angry" by Musk's comments, and is considering legal action.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.