8 Times Billionaires Got Wacky on Twitter They may be highly respected professionals, but here they let their fun sides shine.
By Grace Reader
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
An employee of Richard Branson is now Twitter famous, but maybe not for the reason he had hoped. Branson posted a tweet with an employee who was sleeping on a coach in the Virgin Australia office reading, "checked in on @VirginAustralia staff & caught this guy sleeping. I gave him a wake up call!"
For Branson, posting goofy photos is not out of the ordinary, but for other billionaires, posting a funny tweet can be quite the rarity. Here are eight times billionaires took over Twitter by being whacky:
1. Richard Branson
Checked in on @VirginAustralia staff & caught this guy sleeping. I gave him a wake up call! https://t.co/kcrn6Q3PrZ pic.twitter.com/8aeyF281Sf
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) June 1, 2016
Richard Branson posted a tweet with a sleeping employee that went viral, but quickly assured the Twitter community that the man was simply getting some much needed rest while on standby.
Shortly after Branson had captured the media's attention, he took it a step further. On World Oceans Day Branson dressed up like a mermaid, with a shiny tail and everything.Why am I dressed as a mermaid, you ask? #MakeASplash https://t.co/2MAqn4yRaS @oceanunite pic.twitter.com/BivrzYI97P
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) June 8, 2016
2. Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is one of those billionaires who doesn't generally use social media, but he did generate some attention when he tweeted a photo of himself dressed up like Walter White's alter ego Heisenberg from Breaking Bad. The photo has been retweeted 5,396 times so far. Buffett only has eight tweets, the first being, "Warren is in the house."Not even the Oracle knows what will happen tonight. #waltsuccessor pic.twitter.com/EM8gIzZib5
— Warren Buffett (@WarrenBuffett) September 30, 2013
3. Oprah Winfrey
Eat bread. Lose weight. Whaaatttt? #ComeJoinMe https://t.co/jUgpk9ToXYhttps://t.co/xtnB53EwSf
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) January 26, 2016
Oprah Winfrey tweeted out a video about how much she loved bread. Yes, bread. Oh and she made $12 million from the tweet. Oh, to be Oprah.
4. John Henry
Stan captured it. Among Boston's finest. pic.twitter.com/P2e6prS5wv
— John W. Henry (@John_W_Henry) October 14, 2013
Going to be a wild ride tonight! pic.twitter.com/ddcp9hXrZK
— John W. Henry (@John_W_Henry) October 17, 2013
John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox, tweeted out a photo of a Boston cop celebrating a David Ortiz home run. The photo of the police officer, a massive Red Sox fan, went viral and the owner soon tweeted out a photoshopped version.
5. Bill Gates
4 out of 10 people don't have a safe way to poop - that's 2.6 billion!
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) August 13, 2012
Bill Gates is usually very stoic in his tweets, but he brought attention to a serious issue in a goofy way when he tweeted about poop. Despite the silly connotation, the tweet was meant to bring attention to the fact that 1.5 million children die each year due to severe diarrhea.
6. Bob Parsons
Yep. It's snake season in Arizona. Meet Mr. Bull snake!! pic.twitter.com/PRuunWF7gw
— Bob Parsons (@DrBobParsons) May 1, 2015
GoDaddy owner Bob Parsons must not be an ophidiophobe because he used a snake as a golf club. He only got 10 retweets and 25 likes for this tweet, but it sure got his wife's attention. Below the tweet, Renee Parsons commented, "HONEY!!"
7. Mark Cuban
Working to get right back to this spot pic.twitter.com/GMn1Uwel9D
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 12, 2013
Mark Cuban is always a little bit of a goof when it comes to Twitter. Just look at this tweet that he sent out using a urinal while holding the NBA Championship Trophy. Mavericks fans thought the picture was so funny that the team starting selling socks with that very image on them.
8. T. Boone Pickens
The first billion is a helluva lot harder RT @Drake: The first million is the hardest.
— T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) May 31, 2012
T. Boone Pickens got some attention for taking on rapper Drake in a tweet. Drake handled the episode well though, tweeting to his followers "@boonepickens just stunted on me heavy." To make it even juicier? Pickens biography is titled The First Billion is the Hardest.