Elon is off to a good start.

[Jim Bow]

He posted a link to a conspiracy theory that the Pelosi attack was staged.
He really is like a pre-teen boy with a new toy.

[Joe (SoCal)]

Ayup the guy's a tool

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/30/busin...osi-conspiracy

[skuthorp]

In America asit is today he's quite dangerous, but rich enough to get away with almost anything…..

[Garret]

Another nail in the USA's coffin.

Like Republican politicians & their supporters, Musk believes free speech = free to lie. Oh - and free to attack politicians with deadly weapons if one doesn't agree with 'em.

[Joe (SoCal)]

Waiting for Tony Stark to all of a sudden revel he's actually Lex Luthor with more money.

[Hallam]

He posted a link to a conspiracy theory that the Pelosi attack was staged.
He really is like a pre-teen boy with a new toy.

For Elon Musk and all the others who are jumping on that bandwagon:

[skuthorp]

Horror movies? You don't need a movie, you've got America.

And Elon? he's just paid a motza and wants to make it back again. Who cares if it's true or gets someone killed, 'business is business' as the old phrase goes.
No doubt he'd buy America if he could and sack everyone there too.

[sonofswen]

I agree>>>His Sunday post shows he has neither the judgment nor character to manage the platform

ROBERT REICH OCT 31

[dutchpp]

Just leave Twitter and let it implode

[Paul Pless]

Ayup the guy's a troll

ftfy

and what is twitter's greatest purpose? trolldom

perfect match i'd say

[skuthorp]

Doesn't need either sonofswen, just money. Land of the free donchaknow…………….

[TomF]

The world existed before Twitter did, and will after. That said, Twitter has become incredibly useful for news reporting, and getting access to a raft of viewpoints from and discussions among genuine journalists which would be hard to curate if an aggregator site like Twitter didn't exist. The contributors are the content (just like here).

Elon doesn't seem to understand that. He doesn't get why the place works for that function. Alternatively, he does get why the place works for that function, and figures it's a good investment for him to degrade it into Gab or Parler or etc, creating at least some temporary chaos and disruption in the ability to swiftly answer disinformation.

One does question why, eh? What's in it for him? Why make a $44B investment which will drop in value and attractiveness to advertisers because the policies you implement blunt a disinformation combating tool, and drive away the core user types who are themselves the unique content?

[willin woodworks]

According to The NY Times his service on the debt will be a billion a year. If he goes all douchebag that might scare away advertisers and if we are lucky he losses a ton of money and folds. If he starts charging a lot of money to subscribers they will likely bail.
He's scum.

[TomF]

What's a billion to Elon? What's $44B, really? If Twitter completely tanks over the next year or so, becomes Netscape, so what? He's still gonna build rockets, and cars, and God knows what else. He's not gonna have to ride in a public airplane, or think twice before he buys a new gobsmacking home on another mountain peak or seaside cliff.

When you're the richest guy in the world, even losing $44B is meaningless. Can be written off or justified more easily than if my house caught fire and insurance haggled over paying enough to buy/build a replacement.

[Boatbum]

Ayup the guy's a tool

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/30/busin...osi-conspiracy

For a Tool he sure makes a great car though. Or at least you extoll its virtues

[Garret]

For a Tool he sure makes a great car though. Or at least you extoll its virtues

Lots of people drove Fords when Henry owned it.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

He’s bored with cars and with rockets.

The history of the billionaires who tried to play politics in ancient Rome might be a warning to him - if he knew of them.

[TomF]

A person can be utterly brilliant in one area, which doesn't mean there's crossover. And accomplishments are distinct from character.

Steve Schmidt has a powerful piece out this morning offering New Jersey style advice to Musk. Observed that Henry Ford was a genius, who is now more remembered for his fascist support and the fact that Hitler kept a photo of Ford on his desk. Observed that Lindbergh was a genius and innovative aviator, whose accomplishments are deeply overshadowed by his treason.

Life, says Schmidt (unironically some would say), is a test of character. One which Musk's losing, at present anyway.

[John Smith]

None of this would matter if facts did.

[George.]

The history of the billionaires who tried to play politics in ancient Rome might be a warning to him - if he knew of them.

So his making a crass mistake?

[TomF]

Et tu?

[L.W. Baxter]

he's the crassust

[JimD]

None of this would matter if facts did.

Maybe that's why he's just spent $44 billion to obscure facts.

[Durnik]

^ bing, bing, Bing.

What's a billion to Elon? What's $44B, really? If Twitter completely tanks over the next year or so, becomes Netscape, so what? He's still gonna build rockets, and cars, and God knows what else. He's not gonna have to ride in a public airplane, or think twice before he buys a new gobsmacking home on another mountain peak or seaside cliff.

When you're the richest guy in the world, even losing $44B is meaningless. Can be written off or justified more easily than if my house caught fire and insurance haggled over paying enough to buy/build a replacement.

and people still imagine capitalisms' 'good' outweighs its bad?

(insert cartoon of 'but for a few glorious momnents we had fantastic return for our investors' here)

Life, says Schmidt (unironically some would say), is a test of character

that's esp good!

[Joe (SoCal)]

For a Tool he sure makes a great car though. Or at least you extoll its virtues

Henry Ford made a great car and was also a tool.
Thomas Edison made a great lightbulb, and was also a tool.
John D. Rockefeller produced "Standard Oil", and was also a tool.
John P. Getty Also a succesful oilman, and was also a tool.

[Henning 4148]

What I can't understand is, why he wants to invest the time that this new business will need. Why he believes he has the time to run this in addition to what he already has. The day only has so many hours ... There might at least be a risk that he will end up neglecting other topics.

[TomF]

The disruption, timed when it is, will benefit the GOP in the midterm elections. Or at least, if any benefit accrues it will be to the GOP. Bear in mind that it's not only "impartial" commentators who can be decried as Leftists who see this; it was only last week that an official Republican account tweeted "Kanye. Elon. Trump.".

Besides, Musk has managers and executives running his other businesses; he's not heavily involved in the day-to-day. He's never been noted as primarily the "in the weeds content" guy in any of his businesses, but instead as the guy with strategic vision and objectives.

To be honest, I'd see him more likely to be "in the weeds" with Twitter, because he strikes me as a personality apt to get caught by the addictive nature of it, and the power. Which will make Twitter less viable as a company IMO, not more.

tw.PNG

[skuthorp]

Finance bloke on our news this morning reckons that Twitter revenue stream will not service the expenditure occurred…….unless he can talk users into being subscribers and be charged.

[Osborne Russell]

What I can't understand is, why he wants to invest the time that this new business will need. Why he believes he has the time to run this in addition to what he already has. The day only has so many hours ... There might at least be a risk that he will end up neglecting other topics.

Borrowed money with which to buy himself in with Trump?

[AndyG]

He’s bored with cars and with rockets.

SpaceX can currently punt 1kg to orbit for less than $2000 (it will be ~$1000, with Starship), and his nearest competitor charges around ten to twenty times that.

His most basic spreadsheet would say "stick with it".

Andy.

[Mike H]

[TomF]

Suggestion on Twitter this morning that they're considering a way that, "similar to OnlyFans," some content (including potentially porn) would be able to be posted, but only viewed by folks if the one clicking paid for access.

Are there no other websites where a person, hypothetically, could go to see boobies? Free, even?
Must every website be pornified? Is there no downside, in terms of driving away news organizations, reporters, academics, government departments providing public information, and various commentators whose professional reputations and legitimacy might be tainted by participating on the same websites as some BrandiBig@ss might use to market her wares?

Elon doesn't want to "Fix" whatever ills Twitter has, he wants to degrade it into 4chan.

[Paul Pless]

it won't become a porn hosting site
to allow such would mean the loss of its corporate clients and advertisers

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Finance bloke on our news this morning reckons that Twitter revenue stream will not service the expenditure occurred…….unless he can talk users into being subscribers and be charged.

That’s certainly right.

We have here yet one more case of an acquisition at top dollar just before a downturn, savings being made by cutting staff… he might as well have bought a Premier League football club. At least they actually do have season ticket holders!

[Uncle Duke]

Finance bloke on our news this morning reckons that Twitter revenue stream will not service the expenditure occurred…….unless he can talk users into being subscribers and be charged.

Yeah - that's a problem. From a Washington Post article:

Less than a week into Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter, the advertisers that provide most of the company’s revenue are getting antsy.
...advertising trade groups and ad agencies are threatening to pump the brakes. Two of the biggest ad agencies, IPG and Havas Media, told their clients to pause spending on Twitter while they wait to see how the site changes, according to the Wall Street Journal.
And on Monday, a trade group established by major advertisers to push tech platforms to keep harmful content off their sites posted a letter to Musk asking that he stick to the commitments Twitter’s previous leaders made to work with the industry.
“Platforms should be safe for all, and suitable for advertisers,” Robert Rakowitz, head of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, said in the letter. “For advertisers this is non-negotiable — and we expect Twitter to uphold its commitments.”

and:

Twitter now owes roughly $1 billion a year in interest payments on the debt Musk accrued when buying it. Musk is expected to cut costs through layoffs and other methods. But he also needs advertisers to stay on the site, while also finding new ways to make money.