On October 31, Elon Musk got into a bit of a social media tiff with the UN World Food Program. These kind of public barbs are not new to the Tesla and SpaceX founder; he's long been vocal on social media, to the point of stirring up antipathy among loyal followers.

But the October Twitter parry was particularly egregious in my view, as it contrasted two lopsided, problems: world hunger and Elon Musk's ego.

In a nutshell, Musk responded to a CNN article about world hunger, headlined: "2% of Elon Musk's wealth could solve world hunger, says director of the UN food scarcity organization," with an acerbic: "If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it."

Seems reasonable some level — demanding transparency from an organization that put Musk in the hot seat.

But here's why Musk response was a misstep:

To reiterate: Yes, nonprofits should be transparent about spending and budgets. But if Musk had absorbed the first two aragraphs of the CNN article he referenced in his tweet, he would have understood that the point extends beyond himself — to the entire world.