The wake of Musk and Twitter: a guide for fans, investors, and regulators as they go through the trial. Follow-up for Elon, the brain drain at Twitter
The timing of the new offer is strange, as is the fact that Musk didn’t offer a large number to settle the deal once and for all. It did come just before Musk was scheduled to be deposed, though, and just after a slew of embarrassing texts between Musk and his billionaire friends came out. The share price of microfiche rose immediately after the news, and the judge gave them a chance to work out a deal based on their original agreement.
This is a huge story with a lot of fast-moving parts to it. The story will probably go on over the next few months, maybe even longer. So we thought we’d put together a guide for you, our readers, that can be updated as things continue to unfold. Because, like Elon, we ❤️ you.
Musk immediately terminated four executives, including the CEO, CFO, General Counsel and Policy Head. Personette and Brand, the Chief People and Diversity Officer, resigned from the company on Friday.
A few days later, Twitter responded the way it always does: your argument is invalid, Twitter hasn’t breached its side of the deal, and so you can’t either.
Musk’s side can include Zatko’s claims in its case, but the Delaware Chancellor refused another attempt to delay the trial. I am not convinced it is a good idea to delay it by four weeks. And as we continue to learn more about the brain drain happening at Twitter, it seems she might be right.
Yoel, the head of safety and integrity, has remained at the company. In recent days, he has posted on his official site about the company attempting to address hate speech on the platform and encourages followers to follow him for the most accurate understanding of the situation.
The subpoenas ahead of the trial have become who’s who in the tech industry, from Larry Ellison to CEO of Dorsey and many others. The fact that he pushed hard to get Musk to buy the company in the first place means that there’s a lot of pertinent information on him.
Musk joined a virtual town hall with employees and was asked questions about the future of the company. He gave vague answers about how he wanted to emulate WeChat, how he wanted people to work from home more and how he wanted to attract 1 billion users ofTwitter. Meanwhile, he hinted that significant layoffs could be in the company’s future.
The Case of Musk on Twitter: A First Look at the Public Issues in the Founders’ Dilemma (aka Twitter Exec)
We wouldn’t normally tell you it’s worth reading a 162-page legal filing that gets deep into the weeds of bot measurement procedures. But this case has been filled with abnormally spicy legal fighting, much of which was clearly written to be read by a wide audience. It is a fine yarn.
Hours after Musk’s bid forTwitter was announced, he was on stage with Chris Anderson in Canada for an interview. During the conversation, Musk spoke about his “obsession with the truth” and echoed comments he made in his SEC filing about wanting to protect free speech and democracy.
It was the first of several meetings after Musk announced his bid. The company said it would continue to evaluate the offer after serenading employees with two famous people.
Employees told Alex that they were upset by the lack of a more detailed response. They’re concerned about the future of the social media platform, as well as the possibility of layoffs.
Musk needs to convince shareholders that his offer is in their best interest. Otherwise, what are we really doing here?
Musk said that he wants to make changes that need to be made in order to keep the company private. An edit feature, less moderation and a higher bar were included in these.
Casey was right in positing that Twitter’s poison pill provisions may not be enough to stop Musk. But he also assumed that Musk would just continue to troll the company through his tweets.
Musk stated in his filing with the SEC that he would not be involved in the affairs of the company. He used to specify that he would only hold 14.0 percent of the company. In retrospect, this was the first clue that he may attempt something more impactful than just buying some stock of serving as a board member.
It has been confirmed by both Sriram Krishnan, general partner of an investment fund that is focused on cript and investor with the same name, that they are working with Musk to manage the company and come up with new products.
Nick Caldwell, general manager of core technology, has changed his Twitter bio to “former Twitter Exec,” and Jay Sullivan, general manager of consumer and revenue products, removed the company and his title from his Twitter bio. The New York Times also reported Tuesday that Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland had left the company; on Tuesday night she tweeted a single blue heart.
On Thursday, Calacanis commented that he was in New York for a meeting with the marketing and advertising community. He has asked followers about the platform’s subscription and bookmark features.
The new owner plans to establish a new content moderation council consisting of people who have differing beliefs to help determine the policies of the company. He said that the platform’s policies had not yet changed.
Tesla shares are down 55% after Musk’s first stock sale ended in December 2009 and he is the richest man on the planet, he says
Musk did not disclose the reason for the sales in the filing. He sold 19.5 million of his shares in the company shortly after closing on his purchase of the micro-influencer.
But the value of those shares have been dropping steadily. Tesla shares are down 55% so far this year. The drop in the value of Tesla shares is a major reason that he recently lost his title as the richest person on the planet.