[BLOG] THE WISE GENERATION

After thinking about it "very seriously," the founder of Tesla buys a large part of Twitter

If we say Elon Musk, you might immediately think we are actually talking about the CEO of the electric car company Tesla. The truth is that Musk’s professional profile is very diverse and, among his other fields, also includes the humanoid robot he is preparing and the launch into orbit of Internet satellites. It seems this is no longer enough for Musk, one of the richest people in the world. A few weeks ago, this South African-born magnate stated via his favorite social network, Twitter, that he was “very seriously” considering creating his own social network. This April started with the news that Musk acquired just over 9% of Twitter in its first week. With this purchase, the billionaire became the largest individual shareholder of Twitter. It seems the move also worked out very well for the platform, as its shares rose more than 25% after the news of the purchase by the great entrepreneur became public. This whole idea came to Musk’s mind due to the repeated problems he has encountered expressing himself through his profile on this social network. Just a few weeks ago, Elon first created a poll to ask Twitter users if the algorithm of this social network should be open source. The result was an overwhelming majority in favor, 83% (more than 1,100,000 voters) versus 17%. A few days later, Musk again asked his followers if Twitter adhered to the principle of freedom of expression essential for a democracy to function. With participation from over 2 million people, 70% voted no. Faced with this situation of, according to him, undermining freedom of expression and democracy exercised by this social network, Musk asked his followers the next day what should be done about it. Later in the conversation with his community, one of his followers asked if he was thinking about creating a new social network, and Musk replied: “I am thinking about it very seriously.” As we mentioned above, the blue bird social network has been the platform Musk has used to communicate important information and decisions. For example, he revealed his intention to sell 10% of his stake in Tesla; and it also became the place where he promoted some new features, such as the live podcasting app Clubhouse.   He wouldn’t be the first or only magnate to create his own social network If in the future we see the birth of this social network, Elon Musk would not be the only magnate to develop his own social network. At the end of February 2022, former U.S. President Donald Trump also launched Truth Social, his own social network. Moreover, it became one of the most downloaded apps on Apple’s App Store in its first days. Let’s remember that the former U.S. president decided to create this platform after his profile was blocked from major networks following the publication of incendiary messages during the Capitol riot in January 2021.   Musk’s clashes with Twitter But the truth is that Musk’s freedom of expression is restricted not only by the social network but often by other Tesla executives. In this regard, a 2018 agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission requires him to get approval from other executives before releasing information about the company. Against this backdrop, at the end of 2021, the billionaire conducted another poll among his Twitter followers asking if he should sell 10% of his stake in Tesla. His comment triggered a massive sell-off of shares, and the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a subpoena to the company. On another occasion, Musk’s freedom was again curtailed, this time his freedom of movement was questioned because the Twitter account @ElonJet (still active) tracked and continues to track the landings and takeoffs of Elon Musk’s private jet. This account, run by a 19-year-old named Jack Sweeney, poses a major privacy issue for the magnate, which is why he offered the young man $5,000 to shut it down. Surely Elon did not expect Sweeney to counteroffer $50,000, which to this day has not been accepted.   One of Elon’s latest clashes with the Twitter universe happened in March 2020. Yes, exactly at the time you’re probably thinking of: the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic. On March 19, he posted on his profile a link to a New York Times article that the billionaire summarized as “no new domestic coronavirus infections in China.” At that moment, Elon, like a visionary, dared to make his prediction for the United States, stating: “Based on the current trend, we will probably also be close to 0 cases in the United States by the end of April.” There’s no need to add much more here because we all know how things were worldwide at the end of April.