And more specifically his own “free speech” unconstrained by pesky things like SEC regulations against market manipulation. If this goes through (and it’s by no means a foregone conclusion if the Tesla share price continues to fall) then he may be looking to enable the return of the former president to Twitter in exchange for the promise of a pardon if he’s re-elected in 2024.
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Page on some of the technical issues with trying to implement Musk’s stated desires:
Note that one of his desires which is probably shared widely is to eliminate spam and scam bots, but Twitter is probably already trying to do that, and more aggressive measures on that front may contradict with some of his other desires.
Yup, Elon’s biggest issue is not content control but getting to profitability sometime soon as he has to pay back all of the debt that he is incurring to purchase the company. That said, he’s a brilliant guy, so I wouldn’t bet against him.
(hopefully that’s on topic…if not, I can delete.)
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Agreed. That said, even brilliant folks can make a mistake or two. Especially if the investment decisions are emotionally charged.
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Please forgive me if someone mentioned it above, but Musk, if he completes the purchase, has to retain the best Twitter employees. Tech companies compete mightily for talent and Twitter could be “ripe for the picking.” And a big portion of the value in Twitter are the talented employees.
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I’m thinking Twitter to Elon Musk is like a super yacht to an oligarch. He has enough $$ invested elsewhere to keep generating more $$. This is like a personal project. That said, by taking the company private, he is instantly getting some savings by not having to adhere to the same accounting and reporting scrutiny that can drag down profitability of public companies.
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Maybe he is counting on a recession to keep those talents’ butts parked in the Twitter employee chairs? 
Just makes me more unlikely to use Twitter. lol.
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Makes me much more likely to use Twitter.
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Well, the Digital Services Act first has to pass. IF it does, it it’s a likely premise that it does, Twitter could restrict Europeans, or they could modify content in a number of ways for EU residents. They already have location and could do a number of things technically to adhere to the law.
They’ll definitely lose some ( maybe even a lot). When tech companies get purchased they don’t all leave at once. Most will plan a jump. I don’t know if they all have stock options but I’d guess they do (and annual bonuses). This can tie them financially in place for quite a while. The stock options can be hundreds of thousands (over 5 years) and the bonuses can be enormous. Additionally, there will be lots of employees who want to jump to an equally known name company that offers similar pay and benefits. Twitter won’t have trouble recruiting.
It will take 3-9 months for changes in that time, many talent companies are able to recruit into Twitter as they have solidi salaries and benefits. We’ve lived through several tech mergers/sales and fewer jump than you think. The smart ones plan, see what happens then jump. Upper echelons jump first (after they get their options sorted). You’ll see their lawyers and fact checkers gone pretty quick.
In the wee hours of this morning Musk tweeted about his next potential acquisition, Coca Cola, and his plans for it …
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I’m thinking the Port of LA is next
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I’m expecting to see some serious restructuring of the company, which will very likely include building his own servers instead of hosting it through Amazon. This buyout makes him a big political target, and doubtful he wants to see Amazon cancel web hosting like they did with Parler. I’m expecting HQ to get moved to Texas. It’s going to be a big expensive investment.
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Yet another reminder that moderation is not to be discussed as per Terms of Service.
When a post is hidden, it can be a result of being flagged and a moderator agreeing with that flag. If there are replies to that post, those posts might also be hidden.
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Moving HQ may not be all that financially consequential, at least for a couple of years. With work from home, Musk could officially move the corp registration to Texas, along with any C-level folks he wants to keep, and allow the rest of Twitter’s employees to either go into the SF office, or just WFH. In the meantime, many employees will leave on their own accord, adn all new hires/replacements are Texas-based.
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Actually AWS (Amazon servers) are pretty hard to replicate. It’s not just putting them in but so many other issues. He might just leave it. Although true freedom would mean Twitter can stand alone and not depend on other services. Maybe he’ll do some servers in key locations and use AWS for the rest?
I agree HQ is likely to move. That would change so many internal things. Plus, folks can work remotely for the most part.
Amazon vs Twitter, Bezos vs Musk, Godzilla vs Mothra…a triple header coming to a theater near you…
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Musk is well known for blocking people who disagree with him on Twitter. I’m not referring to people who use abusive language or threats or that kind of thing. Just people who post things he doesn’t like or that dispute anything he says.
I don’t believe for one moment he’s concerned with “Freedom of Speech.” Not in any true sense of the phrase anyway.
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Never heard that. Could you provide an example? How did he have that ability?