Hello people. if inflation makes everything more expensive, why are stock prices falling? Ask for a 401(k).
The clear view
In all the months since Elon Musk has maneuvered to check Twitter, his impulses have never made any sense. Here’s a man who has focused on using great science to solve great problems. He runs two large and inspiring companies, Tesla and SpaceX, both of which face significant challenges. He has another company that wants to solve the brain, and another company that tunnels under big cities. He has seven children…sorry, nine. He has to figure out how to get to Mars. But something made him obsessed with running a 16-year-old venture based on brief bursts of self-expression, to the point where he risked billions of his own dollars and endless distractions to do so, at least until he changed his mind.
The only explanation seems to lie in Musk’s own use of the platform: 18,600 tweets. Twitter can drive people crazy. It makes them do and say things they might not do otherwise. And few have fallen for it as hard as Elon Musk.
So it’s no coincidence that in the wake of Musk withdrawing his takeover bid, Twitter’s request for Musk to go through with the deal relies heavily on… his tweets. During the filing, the company’s attorneys took screenshots of them building their case, starting with the irreverent puns Musk made to indicate he was about to make an offer. (He quoted the Elvis tune “Love Me Tender” and invoked the 1934 novel by F. Scott Fiztgerald Tender is the night.) The filing uses Musk’s tweets to disprove his claim that the deal was void because the company misled him about the amount of bot traffic on the platform. It also featured multiple instances where Musk used Twitter to discredit Twitter, the company he ostensibly wanted to buy. Perhaps most damning was Musk’s response to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal’s thread about the company’s efforts to curb bots: a tweet consisting of a single poo emoji. To quote the order: “To Musk, it appears that Twitter, the interests of its shareholders, the transaction Musk agreed to and the legal process to enforce it are all an elaborate joke.”
While I’m not a lawyer, this seems like a smart legal tactic. I know from personal experience with a high school vice principal that people in authority don’t like it when you think the whole process is a joke. Even the most impartial judge may not be inclined to embrace Musk’s arguments as he turns his nose up at the respected rules that bring order to our financial system.
Is this behavior Twitter’s fault? I’m sure it’s common for high-powered executives to talk nonsense in the privacy of their corner offices. But Twitter tempts impulsive people to share those private thoughts with the world. Musk, whose wealth must have made him feel invincible at first, has 100 million followers who reward his online activities with likes, retweets and supportive comments. Apparently it was all too easy – and obviously a lot of fun – to add trolls to the takeover.
