Analysis: Musk’s past musings about Twitter show desire to reshape essence of its business model
It turns out he wasn’t in “goblin mode” after all. Last week Elon Musk, in his characteristically antic manner, tweeted a series of suggestions for improving Twitter after he was revealed to. They ranged from asking if the site’s HQ should be turned into a homeless shelter to whether advertising should be removed from the platform’s premium service.
Whether Musk was being mischievous or not at the time – it’s hard to tell with the world’s richest person – we have to take those tweets very seriously now that he has offered $43bn to buy the microblogging site. “The Beltway and EU will have a field day with this,” said Dan Ives of the US investment firm Wedbush Securities. “Musk owning Twitter is a nightmare for many and this will go through regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the pond.” Nonetheless, Ives doesn’t see rival bidders trumping Musk’s $54.20-a-share bid. Musk has a lot of money and a 9.2% stake, giving him a strong position as the Twitter board –Change is on the cards if he succeeds.
However, the regulatory environment for social media is getting ever tougher. In the UK, the forthcoming online safety bill will require the platforms to monitor their content closely for harms such as. Even if the site is under private ownership, it will not be able to swerve legislators on both sides of the Atlantic who want to make the internet a safer place.