Elon Musk will buy Twitter for $44 billion, as we learned Monday. It sucks, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. There seems to be two general theories going around simultaneously. One, Musk won’t have the time, inclination or ability to significantly change Twitter so people are freaking out over nothing. Two, Twitter is about to become a hellhole of re-platformed Nazis, fascists, bots and nutjobs. I’ve personally lost dozens of followers in recent days, and Twitter has said that they believe people are deleting their accounts in droves. Simultaneously, right-wing figures, fascists and Nazis have seen significant upticks in their follower numbers. Because everyone does know what Musk’s purchase means, that no matter what, fascist a–holes are happy about it so that means it’s really bad. Speaking of:
By “free speech”, I simply mean that which matches the law.
I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.
If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect.
Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2022
“I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.” Again, for morons like Elon Musk, a public company deplatforming Nazis is not censorship. Donald Trump was not censored, he was deplatformed for inciting a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol.
Anyway, while fascist douchebags are super-happy about Elon Musk’s purchase, it turns out that investors are not happy with Musk’s move:
Investors have wiped $126bn (£100bn) off Tesla’s value amid concern that Elon Musk may have to sell shares in the electric carmaker to fund his personal contribution to his $44bn acquisition of Twitter. Tesla stock has been targeted despite the company not being involved in the bid but Musk, its chief executive and largest shareholder, is part-funding the Twitter deal with $21bn of his own equity and a further $12.5bn loan secured against his Tesla stake.
The 12.2% drop in Tesla’s shares on Tuesday equated to a $21bn drop in the value of his Tesla stake, equal to the cash stake he committed to the Twitter deal.
Dan Ives, an analyst at the financial firm Wedbush Securities, said worries about upcoming stock sales by Musk and the possibility he is becoming distracted by the Twitter venture are weighing on the electric carmaker’s shares. “This [is] causing a bear festival on the name,” he said.
Ed Moya, an analyst at the online trading platform Oanda, said: “If Tesla’s share price continues to remain in freefall that will jeopardise his financing.”
The share fall also took place against a backdrop of difficult trading for tech stocks. The Nasdaq closed at its lowest level since December 2020 on Tuesday, as investors worried about slowing global growth and more aggressive rate increases from the US Federal Reserve.
It would be amazing if Elon’s various Ponzi schemes came crashing down on him all because he wanted the Twitter people to think he’s cool.
FYI: We’re blocked by Elon Musk.
So much for being “committed” to free speech. pic.twitter.com/iXsMQYq8v0
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) April 26, 2022
Photos courtesy of Instar, WENN, Avalon Red.
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- Elon Reeve Musk Auto Build – THE GOLDEN STEERING WHEEL – Main Reception – Berlin – 12.11.2019,Image: 540924644, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: AndreasSuhrU / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
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- (200107) — SHANGHAI, Jan. 7, 2020 () — Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 7, 2020. U.S. electric carmaker Tesla officially launched its China-made Model Y program in its Shanghai gigafactory Tuesday, one year after the company broke ground on its first overseas plant. The first batch of China-produced Model 3 sedans was also delivered to its non-employee customers at an opening ceremony for the program. (/Ding Ting),Image: 562871736, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS excluding China – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ding Ting / Avalon
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- 01 December 2020, Berlin: Elon Musk, head of the space company SpaceX and Tesla CEO, comes to the Axel Springer Award ceremony. Musk will accept this year’s Axel Springer Award.,Image: 572867757, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Britta Pedersen / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
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- (FILE) Elon Musk acquires 1,200+ ventilators from China to help alleviate coronavirus COVID-19 shortage. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has acquired a trove of ventilators from China and shipped them to the U.S. for distribution to hospitals in need during the coronavirus. BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – FEBRUARY 26: Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Inc. and SpaceX Elon Musk arrives at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States. Where: Beverly Hills, California, United States When: 24 Mar 2020 Credit: WENN/Avalon **WENN/Avalon**
Please, God, let this completely turn to ashes and this guy return to making questionable cars.
I hope he disappears while travelling in a rocket to Mars instead 🤣
I hardly ever looked at Twitter so I deleted my account yesterday. So, I might be one of your followers that you lost – sorry! Hopefully the deal won’t go through, but if so I do not want to be a part of it!
Deleted mine aswell. I too would love for that deal to fall apart. I am laughing my a$$ off at the idea of it 😀
Deleted mine as well. They came out with numbers and said they were “organic” meaning they don’t want to release how many people actually deleted their accounts.
Deleted mine too!
Mark Hamill says he lost a bunch of followers too. and if people with numbers that big are actually noticing a drop… LOTS of people are deleting twitter. I really really really hope this deal falls through and Musk takes a big financial hit! we do not need another parler!
I only use mine for uploading image grabs from my switch… but maybe I should join in the exodus!
I bet a lot of the employees of Twitter quit. He will have to fill those spaces with MAGA enthusiasts. Just like Trump world they will be incompetent.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer dickhead. Seriously, were he a nicer dickhead, it wouldn’t have happened.
Oh, I hope the deal falls through.
I am sick of right wing nutjobs yelling about free speech. Yes freedom of speech is vital, but that does not mean that there is freedom from consequences. Incite a riot? Spew out hate-speech? Be an unapologetic racist? Twitter can ban you, you can lose your job, or your friends, or be arrested (or all of those things.)
I barely use Twitter in any case so I’m not going to bother with deleting my account, but I really do hope this deal falls through somehow. On good days Twitter can be fun – Jorts the cat comes to mind – but it’s not going to improve with Musk at the helm.
These same nut jobs absolutely hate the first amendment. This “free speech” nonsense is gaslighting en mass.
yes, it does NOT mean freedom from consequences and it also does NOT mean you are guaranteed a voice/platform from a non-governmental entity. you are not entitled to a twitter account, publishing deal, podcast, radio or TV show…if you get canned or de-platformed, or your book deal gets cancelled, it’s not a violation of your right to free speech, it’s the free-market checking your azz.
go stand on the corner and say whatever the hell you want.
Yeah, it drives me bananas when people equate free speech to the right to say whatever you want anywhere. That is NOT what free speech per the Constitution is about, it’s just freedom from government restrictions.
I literally laughed out loud.
I just want to know where black Twitter is going. I will follow.
Also this whole nonsense about subscribing to Twitter if he gets his way. Nope.
@Duchess people were saying discord, Black Planet, I don’t know.
I couldn’t sleep two nights ago and I was reading a thread where people were remembering their best day on Twitter. The jokes! Four seasons landscaping, the truck of rice, the Fyre fest, the King’s Hand, I laughed so much my husband kicked me out of the bed. I will miss Twitter so much.
I thought it was specifically Bill Gates who shorted Tesla stock and made it drop? Hope it’s true. I hate billionaires but I guess Gates is the best of the lot.
@Arizona Girl, Mackenzie Scott is the best of the billionaires. Bill Gates has an agenda that might match your politics, but it is designed to make him money. He doesn’t care if you make money or not. Some of his programs are just terrible. The Core Curriculum may be good for some, but it is horrible for anyone who thinks and learns divergently. And he gets a tax write-off.
This deal includes a fee of $1 billion if either party terminates the agreement. If Twitter decides to bail on the deal, Elon is a billion dollars richer.
At this rate Elon will bail to make his Tesla board happy.
His ego really shows here. Felt himself invincible and beloved. We see him.
Then I guess the owners of Twitter will be a billion dollars richer !
I deleted my account as well…sorry! I follow you on feedly and visit your website more. Tbh… you and the steelers were the only reason I used Twitter. I will not be a part of Elons self promotion shitshow.
I like to twitter watch tv shows with other people that I don’t even know. It is so much fun. I come here to read celebitchy. I check on trending scandals etc.
People are crapping on Jameela Jamil but honestly I think more high profile celebrities need to follow and make a statement. Twitter is NOT the only platform out there. It’s already a cesspool and this talk about censorship and free speech is concerning, because it’s not really about that. It’s about Musk’s ego boost and feeling like a hero to a good part of our population who are terrible people. As soon as Trump’s account is reinstated, I will side-eye anyone who still has an account.
There’s something…weird about the financing of this deal. Tesla’s stock price was really stagnant until early 2020, after which it surged (currently about $900/share). Twitter’s performance has been solid but is only about $48/share currently. And yet Elon is taking out a loan against his more valuable assets to secure this less valuable purchase. I know Musk’s argument is that he can add value to Twitter, but I’ll believe it when I see it (same with the acquisition, itself).
I’ve said before but I’ll say again that Elon Musk is this generation’s Howard Hughes. He inherited a fortune, has some interesting ideas but is impossible to work for & he’ll likely squander most of what he makes on vanity projects. He’s also a terrible person who’s into drugs. I just don’t see anything he’s connected with ending well.
Was 883.58 per share today. The high was 919.
Keep deleting your Twitter accounts!
If this wealthy neckbeard Icaruses himself I will be so pleased. He’s been knowingly fucking with the stock market with his tweets and the SEC is doing jack squat.
It’s nicely poetic if his own hubris takes him down.
“ If this wealthy neckbeard Icaruses himself” 🤣 🤣🤣
@detritus you just made my day with a good laugh thank you I needed that!
It’s not just the Tesla stock price drop that should be concerning old boy. Some were saying his comments about Twitter’s CIO (forget her name and title) were grounds for squashing the deal. He called her out for her role in banning racists and racists came after her in droves. In the deal, he’s supposedly forbidden from commenting about current employees. Might trigger that $1B fine. We’ll see. The acquisition is months off and will be reviewed by DOJ.
I’ve been through the Russian takeover of Livejournal, Yahoo messing up Tumblr and now this. As I said, I’m not leaving. I enjoy Twitter. I’ve got good friends on it and I follow good people. I’m quick with the block and mute buttons.
a lot of folks left livejournal when the Russians invaded Ukraine. there’s an alternative site and you can download your old posts and move them over fairly easily.
I miss Tribe.net! now that was social media that was actually fun. it might be partly because it was before everyone and their dog got on FB, but Tribe.net was FUN.
I loved LJ, but yeah, had to move on. Granted I moved on 11 years ago, but still…these social media sites come and go.
I like reading all the literary people, the bloggers from Ukraine, social activists etc. so I’m not deleting my account. I will block all the racist sexist homophobes.
The Elon musk cult is ridiculous. Basically he’s a money man, with help from US tax breaks, who might have an idea or two, but mostly spouts nonsense that he can’t back up because he doesn’t have any real talent. He stands on the shoulders of people who are much smarter and more capable and grandstands. He’s an entitled moron.