Elon Musk just acquired Twitter, but his complicated story with social media begins more than ten years ago. Tesla’s CEO has repeatedly used a tweet to advertise, to launch provocations, to propose ideas. And also to get in trouble. Trouble even costing several million dollars.
Elon Musk and his Twitter story
Musk immediately believed in this social platform, which he has joined in 2009 (the company was founded in 2006). And at least since 2017 has begun to make people understand their interest in this social network, writing that “I love Twitter” and then comment on his own post with a “how much does it cost?”.
With an account from 84 million followers, Musk really seems to love the platform. Where he talks about politics, economics, where he launches individual projects and speaks as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. But which he also uses for condividere deep fake of her face on the face of Dwayne The Rock Johnson or where it invites you to unhook atomic bombs on Mars.
But over the years with his tweets he has caused more than one problem. For himself, the shareholders he works for and also for him more or less vocal opponents.
Tweets that are expensive
Often Musk’s tweets are rather crass humor, but his stance makes it hard to tell if he’s joking or not. This is the case with one of his tweet of August 2018, when he wrote that he was “considering of privatize Tesla for $ 420. Found the funds “.
In American parlance, 4-20 is a number to speak of marijuana and it seems obvious in hindsight that Musk just wanted to make a joke. But when this joke is made by the largest shareholder and CEO of a company, the effects they are anything but comical.
La SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) ha fined $ 40 million Musk, for misinforming investors: 20 million personally and 20 million to Tesla. But Musk says it was “worth it”.
The commission asked that he check with a team of lawyers before tweeting about the company he manages. But Musk hasn’t kept his promise in 2020 when he has written “Tesla’s stock prices are too high in my opinion.”
Result? 14 billion dollars lost on Wall Street. And he doesn’t stop there. In 2021 it has tweeted and poll asking his followers if he should have Tesla’s shares, which he then did. Currently he and his brother are under investigation, because there is a suspicion of insider trading: Musk would have the brother warned before the tweet, and he would sell the shares when they were worth more.
On these two cases, the SEC has yet to intervene. They could become i most expensive tweets in history, breaking the previous record of $ 40 million.
The question of the caves
If the tweet about Tesla’s shares usually cost dearly, others have taken it to court. In fact, in 2019 Musk ended up on trial following a complaint from the British speleologist Vernon Unsworth.
Twitter discussed how to retrieve a team of young soccer players from a cave in Thailand. Musk had proposed to help the group with a submarine, but Unsworth had pointed out that the submarine was too large to pass through the ravine and reach the missing players.
Musk instead claimed that they would solve everything with the submarine, “no problem“. To proceed to call the speleologist “pedo guy“, Claiming without any evidence that he was a pedophile. Musk then removed the tweet after many pointed out how irresponsible it was to accuse someone of such a serious crime in front of his own. then 22 million followers.
Musk admitted he felt insulted and “reacted by insulting“. The court exonerated him.
Musk’s story on Twitter: the relationship with politics
Musk has also started tweeting about politics in the last couple of years, although not always elegantly. Last fall, when some Democrats proposed a tax on the financial earnings of billionaires, Musk replied, “Right. Sooner or later other people’s money runs out e they come to get yours “. Then move on to personal insults, writing in response to the independent senator Bernie Sanders: “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive”.
More recently he had published a Hitler’s photo to insult Canadian President Justin Trudeau, writing “Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau”. Not exactly high comedy.
The Covid issue
But his relations with politics on Twitter multiplied during the pandemic, where he often complained about the measures social distancing imposed by California (he later moved Tesla’s headquarters to Texas).
In March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, it had written: “This coronavirus panic is stupid“. Later that month she tweeted that “babies are essentially immune”.
Elon Musk’s Twitter story has been going on for years, with constant controversies. From the alleged manipulations of the cryptocurrency market when he first promised and then stopped sell Tesla cars by paying in Bitcoinsright up to his philosophizing utterances on the fact that we all live inside the Matrix.
Musk used Twitter to sponsor his companies and gain massive media exposure. But also how toy that sometimes loses control (and sometimes pays the price). In the last month, her tweets have focused on the future of Twitter and the news that she will want to put in place. However, in all likelihood Twitter employees they hope to be more stable as an executive than a tweeter.
The acquisition of the social network marks the beginning of a new phase of Elon Musk’s relationship with Twitteror it will still be there same story? Given his penchant for tweeting about everything, we’ll find out very soon.