Teen who turned down $5,000 from Elon Musk to shut down a Twitter account tracking the billionaire's jet says he gets too much work satisfaction to settle for less than $50,000

The 19-year-old who was offered $5,000 by Musk to shut down his account said it wasn't enough to replace the satisfaction he gets from running the account.

Protocol was the first to report that Jack Sweeney had been approached by Musk. Musk asked Sweeney to take down the Jet account because it was a security risk.

Musk said that social-media accounts discussing his whereabouts were becoming a security issue.

Sweeney gave technical advice on how to make Musk's jet less trackable in a conversation that was viewed by Insider.

How about $5k for this account and helping make it harder for crazy people to track me? Musk asked.

Sweeney replied that it was doable, account and all his help. Is there a chance to up that to $50K?

The billionaire was told by the 19-year-old that he could use the money to buy a Model 3.

Sweeney told Insider that 5k is not enough and that he has done a lot of work on this. He said $5,000 wasn't enough to replace the fun he has working on it.

In the messages viewed by Insider, Musk said he would think about Sweeney's counter-offer, then later said he didn't feel right to pay to shut this down.

When contacted by Insider, Musk did not reply.

According to Insider Musk has implemented some of his technical advice, using a blocking system that makes it harder to track his jet.

Sweeney said that he had to work around it.

The billionaire had lost interest in a deal, so Sweeney decided to go public with the offer.

He said, "He went the opposite way of me, so why wouldn't I go the opposite way of him?"

In June 2020, Sweeney started the Jet account. The account uses bots to alert followers to the movements of Musk's private jet. He said he had been working on the technology behind the account for a few months.

Sweeney said he had the idea because he was a fan of Musk.

Sweeney said that his father works aviation, sparking an interest in planes.

Sweeney said he works for a company called UberJets, where he builds a platform to help track chartered flights so the company can find clients cheaper seats. He said that his work on the Musk account can be seen by employers.