How ‘free speech absolutist’ Elon Musk would transform Twitter
It turns out he wasn’t in “goblin mode” after all. Last week Elon Musk, in his characteristically antic manner, tweeted a series of suggestions for improving Twitter after he was revealed to have become its largest individual shareholder. They ranged from asking if the site’s HQ should be turned into a homeless shelter to whether advertising should be removed from the platform’s premium service.
Many of these tweets were subsequently deleted, including one sharing a meme depicting the attorney Saul Goodman from the series Breaking Bad with the words: “In all fairness your honor, my client was in ‘goblin mode.’”
Whether Musk was being mischievous or not at the time – it’s hard to tell with the world’s richest person – we have to take those tweets very seriously now that he has offered more than $40bn to buy the microblogging site.
Given Twitter’s pivotal role in shaping the news and political agenda on both sides of the Atlantic, its ownership is a sensitive issue, particularly if it is about to be placed in the hands of an entrepreneur with a $260bn fortune. Not only is Musk one of the site’s most popular accounts with 81.6 million followers, he is the CEO of two companies – the electric carmaker Tesla and the rocket firm SpaceX – that intersect with the regulatory and political spheres.
“The Beltway and EU will have a field day with this,” said Dan Ives of the US investment firm Wedbush Securities. “Musk owning Twitter is a nightmare for many and this will go through regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the pond.” Nonetheless, Ives doesn’t see rival bidders trumping Musk’s $54.20-a-share bid. Musk has a lot of money and a 9.2% stake, giving him a strong position as the Twitter board – which he declined to join at the
Read more on theguardian.com
