Elon Musk is a modern-day czar. His immense wealth gives him such enormous power that he can swing public opinion, create seismic economic changes, help war-torn countries and maybe even buy one. Elon Musk buying a 9.2% stake in the microblogging platform, Twitter has dominated headlines. Now Musk wants to take over the company – which will cost roughly as much as the Sri Lankan national debt. He even has a Plan B for his hostile takeover.
Though at first CEO Parag Agrawal welcomed him onto the Twitter board, later it was announced that Musk would not be joining the board. Agrawal issued a note that said this was “for the best”.
Using a gaming reference, this commentator speaks about Musk’s bid to buy out Twitter. Musk offered $43 billion to do this because he believes the company needs to be transformed as a private company.
First, Twitter.
People pointed out that the external debt of the country Sri Lanka is currently $51-billion and there is an economic emergency facing the island nation right now.
Some Sri Lankans also had this suggestion. “We will make you king,” says this tweet.
Ceylon being the old name for Sri Lanka, soon the Ceylon Musk memes were trending.
Musk has a lot of money – to put it mildly. Ergo he can indulge whatever whim or fancy he has, whether it is buying the world’s biggest microblogging platform or buying a country.
Musk has been known to swing the crypto market with just a tweet. If he were to invest heavily in digital currencies, a lot of investors stand to gain big.
A lot of people, particularly conservatives have supported Musk’s bid for a Twitter takeover because of his claims of being a free speech absolutist.
A lot of commentators pointed out how Musk has blocked people for mocking or disagreeing with him – which does not sound like a free speech absolutist. (Although, to be clear, being a free speech absolutist doesn't mean one cannot protect oneself against hurtful, hateful or defamatory speech/action.)
Commentators feel that Musk’s bid to take over Twitter has less to do with free speech absolutism and more to do with wanting to control this hugely powerful social media platform
So far Twitter shareholders have said they would resist a hostile takeover by Musk. But Musk has plan B
To tweak the title of Oscar Wilde classic play, Musk’s immense power to impact the economy cannot be overstated.
The trend #CeylonMusk itself indicates this. I dread to think what would happen if Elon Musk’s Plan B were to succeed and he was to become the sole decision-maker for arguably the world’s single biggest opinion-maker. Without oversight, without checks and balances to reign in a raging ego, a Twitter created in the image of The Almighty Musk is a horrifying prospect.
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