# Why the hate for Elon Musk? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053 "2022-03-14T21:22:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/222 "2022-04-08T17:42:33Z")
Is Elon Musk planning to see how close this “submarine” can get to the Earth’s core? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/223 "2022-04-10T10:21:27Z")
He’s less mature than my 8 year old grandson. [https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1513045405029711878](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1513045405029711878) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/224 "2022-04-10T10:33:10Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > He’s less mature than my 8 year old grandson. > > > ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/225 "2022-04-11T06:38:49Z")
Update: Elon has decided not to join Twitter’s board after all after finding out he’d have to undergo a background check AND act in the best interests of its shareholders. > [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQCEAWKacAI2zNi?format=jpg&name=large) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQCEAWKacAI2zNi?format=jpg&name=large) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/226 "2022-04-11T09:44:22Z")
I’m seeing folks claim this will set him up to do a hostile takeover. I know nothing about how such things work. It’s probably just another rumor to stir shit with. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/227 "2022-04-11T13:33:57Z")
I don’t know what a background check would turn up that isn’t already known, but I suspect the “acting in the best interests of the company and ALL the shareholders” bit would have become a problem for him very rapidly. One feels for all the poor persecuted conservatives who have literally been begging him to reinstate Trump (and often themselves or their friends) to Twitter via some unspecified unilateral action. No, wait - one doesn’t. Not at all. Unless this counts: ![](https://c.tenor.com/TywY4EYSTZEAAAAC/ha-ha-the-simpsons.gif) ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/228 "2022-04-11T20:39:15Z")
One of my fave lefty bloggers [wrote this](https://jabberwocking.com/elon-musk-is-a-bad-idea/) about it: > [@](#): > > # Elon Musk is a bad idea > > A week ago, Elon Musk announced that he owned 9.2% of Twitter and would be joining the board of directors. Twitter stock rose. By Thursday, everyone was already tired of his bullshit and Twitter stock began to drop. Over the weekend Musk withdrew from the board and on Monday Twitter stock opened higher. > > Lesson: Elon seems like a good idea until you’re forcefully reminded that, really, he isn’t. He’s fine at running his own companies but he’s basically just a shitposting troll everywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/229 "2022-04-11T20:42:42Z")
Why the hate for Elon Musk? He’s got untold billions of dollars and his best idea on how to make the world a better place is to consider an edit button on Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/230 "2022-04-12T05:41:55Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > One of my fave lefty bloggers [wrote this](https://jabberwocking.com/elon-musk-is-a-bad-idea/) about it: We really are living in our own virtual reality. Any slight notion or general feeling towards something you know nothing about can be immediately placated and validated by someone or some site that jerks you off while they tell you you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/231 "2022-04-12T05:45:57Z")
> [@nate](#): > > Any slight notion or general feeling towards something you know nothing about can be immediately placated and validated by someone or some site to jerk you off while they tell you you’re right. Wow, so withering. Fetch my sunglasses, Maude. I thought Drum’s point was good: Elon is good in his sphere and he’s ridiculous and a jerk outside of it. SpaceX is awesome - and? ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/232 "2022-04-12T05:59:42Z")
I apologize squeegee… It really wasn’t directly at you in particular, it was just a venting of frustration about how Musk-hate is now the zeitgeist, and every thing he does (or did) is now seen through some nefarious lens. I don’t know or pretend to know Musk’s reason for declining the seat, but until he decides to explain, can’t we refrain from just making up reasons or pretending the stock price has anything to do with reality? ---
**Author:** ![wjChia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wjChia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wjChia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/233 "2022-04-12T06:12:22Z")
Rich enough to become a major shareholder of Twitter, but didn’t do his due diligence about what would be required of him to join the board of directors? A twit with way too much money without the matching amount of sense. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/234 "2022-04-12T13:18:18Z")
> [@nate](#): > > I don’t know or pretend to know Musk’s reason for declining the seat, but until he decides to explain, can’t we refrain from just making up reasons or pretending the stock price has anything to do with reality? Nah. People with outsized influence should have their motives and actions questioned regularly. Saying “Well, that guy with enormous capacity isn’t saying why he did his stuff so I guess we just sit silently and watch” is a terrible mindset. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/235 "2022-04-12T14:25:33Z")
I think Elon Musk is the 21st Century [Timothy Dexter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Dexter). Got rich on unlikely investments and procured a lot of hate because of the “unearned” success. Didn’t help that he has no intention to be a “normal” rich guy. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/236 "2022-04-13T05:57:17Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Nah. People with outsized influence should have their motives and actions questioned regularly. Saying “Well, that guy with enormous capacity isn’t saying why he did his stuff so I guess we just sit silently and watch” is a terrible mindset. I think that’s more of a pre-2007 mindset. Nobody is waiting on anything to turn a molehill into a mountain regardless of the underlying truth. If it can catch clicks and worth the effort, why not make a big deal out of it. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/237 "2022-04-13T14:12:12Z")
Elon failed to report when he crossed the 5 percent limit buying Twitter shares. I don’t know if he’ll be hit with any significant SEC fines, or if this class action lawsuit has any chances of succeeding, but ignoring regulations likely saved him millions on the Twitter shares he bought after failing to report owning more than 5 percent. “Investors who sold shares of Twitter stock between March 24, 2022, when Musk was required to have disclosed his Twitter ownership, and before the actual April 4, 2022 disclosure, missed the resulting share price increase as the market reacted to Musk’s purchases and were damaged thereby,” the lawsuit states. > [Elon Musk is hit with a class action lawsuit over his Twitter investment](https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-class-action-lawsuit-twitter-013007195.html) > According to the shareholder who brought the suit, he and other investors sold shares at “artificially deflated” prices as a result of Musk’s actions. The suit also alleges that Musk made “materially false and misleading statements and omissions by failing to disclose to investors that he had acquired a 5% ownership stake in Twitter as required.” ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/238 "2022-04-14T13:10:00Z")
He’s now trying to buy Twitter outright… > **[Twitter CEO addresses employees worried about Elon Musk's hostile takeover bid](https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1092792108/twitter-elon-musk-buy-company)** > > Musk's offer comes after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO became Twitter's largest shareholder. Musk says he will unlock Twitter's potential. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/239 "2022-04-14T14:17:34Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Elon failed to report when he crossed the 5 percent limit buying Twitter shares. I don’t know if he’ll be hit with any significant SEC fines From what I’ve read, he was fined $1.5M for the late filing, after making over $150M as a result of it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/240 "2022-04-14T14:27:48Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > > [@NPR](#): > > > > Musk says he will unlock Twitter’s potential. Potential for what? Trolling the masses while using “autism” as a shield? ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053/241 "2022-04-14T15:18:03Z")
I expect he intends to turn it into a Far West of free expression that doesn’t answer to any country or government, like Telegram. Especially if delivered via Starlink. Then he can finally post misleading statements about his companies and cryptocurrencies without having to answer to the SEC, FTC or FAA. And reinstate all the accounts of conspiracists and COVID deniers, including Trump. Twitter has become one of the few things news outlets can agree on as a source of truth (not that the content is true, but that either something was posted by individual XYZ – here it is – or it wasn’t). So now the truth has an Edit button and will be controlled by Elon Musk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-elon-musk/961053.md?page=13)