I love how Musk is a brilliant businessman who can run anything, and is also a free-speech warrior locked in constant struggle with woke activists and cancel culture…
…yet apparently he never considered for a moment that activists might push back by pressuring advertisers.
When are we going to admit that he has no idea what he’s doing, and he bought Twitter with no real plan besides getting even with his haters?
To your point, @HMS_Irruncible:
Anyway, I was told that billionaires are job creators. Was I lied to?
I think that’s pretty fair. As I’ve been saying I think the syllogism went like this
This is why his obsession with bots was his main pretext for trying to get out of the deal. It’s not that he thought the wrong amount of bot activity would harm his business case (he had no business case). It’s the bot activity is the #1 prime thing he wanted to determine, and the answer turned out to be “it’s complicated and there’s no way to know for sure, but it’s not what you think it is.”
Once he knew he wouldn’t be getting the answers he wanted concerning bots, he tried to welsh on the deal, and could not risk doing so without further embarrassment. So that’s why we’re seeing Twitter on a crunch schedule to ship some sort of porn viewing feature plus sell blue checks to people who are uninterested in paying for them.
Twitbr
And we all know that American advertisers love having their products aligned with pornography.
Brilliant plan, Elmo!
Who what now? There’s already a ton of porn on Twitter. What’s this?
Probably trying to segregate the porn so they can say they are protecting families and respectable advertisers can stay in the “good Twitter”
Eh, nah, he HAS said publicly he’s “not a normal chill guy” (to quote the SNL monolog) — he is just convinced he knows what it is people should like, want and need.
Who knew that it’s hard to get people to use your product if you act like a divisive man-child. If your business is to sell things, especially cheap or free things, don’t shout controversial comments with your mega-megaphone.
Whether he’s aware or not, every step he takes is planned for by a team of people. The temperature, the smells, the plethora of food, the cleanliness of the carpet, the Fuji water bottle nicely chilled. I can’t imagine what that does to someone’s psyche over time but it can’t be good. I was commenting a few years ago that I was surprised at how down to earth he was considering, but I think his aging brain plus the annoyance of covid regulations sent him over the edge.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
Well I guess he doesn’t have to worry about the stock price plunging after tweets like that. Silver linings and all.
With the caveat that this feature was announced 72 hours ago and may have already been forgotten, Twitter is pushing forward with a paywalled video feature that could launch as soon as this month. One employee said it seemed like the feature will probably be used to promote adult content.
“People are saying things I don’t like! That’s not Freedom of Speech! Freedom of Speech is when a rich white man can say whatever he wants without any consequences!”
A couple of things:
This does not bode well for Elmo.
I think Musk’s biggest problem is he’s now tied Tesla and Twitter stock together, and his fortune is tied to Tesla stock. When Tesla stock dives his worth tanks with it. This has the potential to ruin him.*
The financing for the Twitter deal I believe was something like 7 billion cash (which he sold Tesla stock to raise), 21 billion back by as yet and unsold Tesla stock, and $22.5 billion in loans (kind of back by Tesla stock indirectly).
And it is the interaction between the stock, the loans, and a failing Twitter that could really hurt. If he needs to raise money to keep Twitter open, then he’ll probably need to either sell Tesla or get a loan (back by Tesla stock). If he starts selling Tesla stock because he has to, then this will likely depress the value of Tesla. Meaning he will need to sell more Tesla stock to make up for increasing outlays. It can create the kind of spiral downwards that could get very expensive.
So he’s basically making an in-house OnlyFans.
If this thing tanks, he could end up being only Trump rich.
I think his biggest problem is that he’s a megalomaniacal jackwagon who doesn’t have objective critics around him whose job it is to help separate the good ideas from the bong-fueled brain farts. But, yeah, the stock thing is definitely up there.
True, true. I stand corrected.
The one thing I agree with Musk on is he should go to Mars.
I meant more from a Musk’s point of view. From my point of view, Musk having his fortune obliterated down to Trump-level rich (or even lower) would be great.
