We certainly live in interesting times.
After recently criticising Twitter’s management, particularly the platform’s shift away from a free and open speech in the app, billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk purchased 73.5 million shares in the company today, worth close to $3 billion, making him the company’s largest shareholder.
Musk now owns 9.2 percent of the company, and while his stake is ‘passive’ – that is, he does not gain a board seat or voting rights – speculation now is that Musk may look to make a larger move, and take more active control of the company, in the near future.
What does that imply?
As previously stated, Musk recently took to Twitter to criticize the company’s efforts to limit free speech. Late last month, Musk shared this poll with his 80 million Twitter followers.
Musk also stated that the results of this poll would be significant without qualifying his remarks.
Following this, Musk questioned Twitter’s current role in democracy and hinted at the possibility of creating his own social network.
Musk has had a complicated relationship with Twitter over time, with the billionaire’s off-the-cuff tweets often landing him in hot water with the SEC and other regulatory authorities. Musk also has a history of sharing seemingly random memes and thoughts, which, given his public status, has led to confusion, and even concern at times, about his mental state.
A case in point: Musk recently challenged Vladimir Putin to a physical fight for the fate of Ukraine.
Musk has also been a vocal critic of various government policies, including immigration reforms, COVID response measures, and taxation proposals. And given his statements on Twitter’s moves to restrict certain speech, it’s possible that Musk would like to go further in such comments.
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