"This platform doesn't seem very democratic to me," he said about Twitter, also assuming the launch of a new platform of his own.
But in the end Elon Musk, Tesla's owner and richest man in the world, opened his wallet and bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter, becoming its largest shareholder. A stake of 73.5 million shares worth 2.9 billion dollars with which he opens a new chapter in the story of "love and hate" that binds him to the social network created by Jack Dorsey.
Right in the back step of Dorsey, who has decided to leave the leadership of Twitter, you can find the reasons for Musk's investment. When Parag Agrawal was named CEO Musk posted a retouched photo comparing him to Stalin, alluding to the possibility that he had done away with Dorsey as Stalin had done away with Nikolai Yezhov.
“I just want to say that I support Dorsey as CEO of Twitter,” chirped Musk in March 2020, who is tied to Dorsey by a shared passion for Bitcoin. According to rumors, the changing of the guard would have agitated Tesla's patron worried about a possible increase in censorship on the platform.
"Given that Twitter is in fact a public square, failing to adhere to the fundamental principles of freedom of expression puts democracy at risk," Musk tweeted in recent weeks by launching a survey among his followers, which he asked to declare whether, in their opinion, Twitter respects the principles of free speech.
On paper, the billionaire's stake in Twitter is "passive", as are considered in the eyes of Wall Street all those below 10%. But, analysts note, with Musk there is never anything passive.
Neither Musk nor Twitter have commented on the move at the moment, according to some analysts the owner of Tesla "will be an active investor and will force Twitter to change". Wall Street believes it and Twitter stocks are flying, gaining 27%.
THE POLL - And a few hours after the investment, Musk launches an informal poll on the platform: "Do you want the edit button?". The so-called "edit button", present on Facebook and Instagram, allows you to edit a post already written.
At the moment in the poll launched by Musk the yeses win with 74%. Among the many comments there are those who ask that the change be made under two conditions: that it is available only for a few minutes, 5-10, and with a link that shows what has been changed to keep track of the previous post. "Sounds reasonable," Musk replies to this proposal.
In these hours, the request of some pro-Trump conservatives to return the former president on Twitter, after the definitive suspension arrived on January 9, 2021.
(Unioneonline / L)
