Discussion

• @davidsacks David Sacks on x

  I'm purely speculating here: the poison pill starts at 15% so what if 2 partners buy 14.9% each and a third buys 5.4%? That's a majority. Let the firings commence. https://twitter.com/...

• @jeffbercovici Jeff Bercovici on x

  When I think of helping a company better fulfill its social mission, I think of private equity https://twitter.com/...

• @susanlitv Susan Li on x

  This is not a surprise folks! #silverlake was already floated as a potential partner when #ElonMusk unveiled his #Twittertakeover bid #Twitter $twtr https://nypost.com/...

• @philhollowayesq Phil Holloway on x

  One way or another, #ElonMusk is going to bring change to this platform https://twitter.com/...

• @tyler Tyler Winklevoss on x

  Plan B? https://nypost.com/...

• @mcuban Mark Cuban on x

  Want to see the whole world lose their shit ? Get Peter Thiel to partner with Elon and raise the bid for Twitter

• @rebeccaforwa @rebeccaforwa on x

  Elon Musk has enough money to end homeless and hunger, but instead he wants to buy Twitter.

• @tbskyen @tbskyen on x

  This has such “I have realized the world needs a robust public transportation system, THEREFORE I AM BUILDING SINGLE FILE CAR TUBES UNDERGROUND” energy What a fucking idiot https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @cameron Cameron Winklevoss on x

  Twitter is considering a poison pill to thwart @elonmusk's offer. They would rather self-immolate than give up their censorship programs. This shows you how deeply committed they are to Orwellian control of the narratives and global discourse. Scary.

• @twitterir @twitterir on x

  Here is our press release on today's announcement: https://www.prnewswire.com/...

• @jason @jason on x

  Oh my... so they're going to potentially dilute the cap table and tank the stock on Monday!!? Maybe they have another buyer circling at a higher price? If not... my lord this could be disastrous. https://twitter.com/...

• @ericjackson Eric Jackson on x

  Funny how Twitter is casting @elonmusk as a Carl Icahn activist. Elon is the first activist to go after a tech company who really understands tech companies

• @hansmahncke Hans Mahncke on x

  Mark Zuckerberg has enough money to end homelessness and hunger, but instead he used it to swing an election. https://twitter.com/...

• @broderick Ryan Broderick on x

  Facebook and Twitter wanted to centralize everyone's online experience. And it's honestly a little satisfying watching these companies now suffer endless tedious attacks from conservatives and capitalists that want to subsume them. No one asked for the internet to work like this!

• @karaswisher Kara Swisher on x

  After reading, my one thought is that ⁦@elonmusk⁩ is going to enjoy eating the ⁦@Twitter⁩ bird with fava beans & a nice Chianti: Twitter Adopts Limited Duration Shareholder Rights Plan, Enabling All Shareholders to Realize Full Value of Company https://www.prnewswire.com/...

• @nathanbomey Nathan Bomey on x

  Let's see, that's the same JPMorgan that ... ::checks notes:: ... is suing Tesla over the fallout of Elon Musk's “funding secured” tweet. https://twitter.com/...

• @sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x

  This weekend a decade ago, Facebook was working on its deal to acquire Instagram for $1 billion, signing the paperwork on Easter Sunday. The decision shaped a decade of communication. More potentially historic discussions are happening now, about the future of Twitter...

• @arampell Alex Rampell on x

  The fastest Twitter product launch in history https://twitter.com/...

• @ggreenwald Glenn Greenwald on x

  The censorship power of Big Tech monopolies isn't wielded as much by executives as it is by Western governments. FB, Google/YT and Twitter are crucial instruments to control the flow of information available to their populations. If Musk is serious, it will provoke a battle: http…

• @yashar Yashar Ali on x

  If you're able to tweet about “Orwellian control”.....it's not Orwellian. https://twitter.com/...

• @teslaownerssv @teslaownerssv on x

  Wow this says more about Twitter as a company than anything else. Shareholders have almost made 50% since @elonmusk bought in https://twitter.com/...

• @hansmahncke Hans Mahncke on x

  Mark Zuckerberg put up $500 million to interfere in a presidential election. Elon Musk is putting up 100 times as much to save democracy. It is a testament to the insanity of our times that Zuckerberg is heralded as a hero while Elon is vilified.

• @moorehn Heidi N. Moore on x

  I see that the name of the poison pill is being taken in vain. Marty Lipton, its inventor, is still alive and I hope to God he's not reading some of the tweets out there. Who wants an explainer thread on poison pills? Very short because I have things to do.

• @yinkawrites Yinka Adegoke on x

  'ish getting real.... https://twitter.com/...

• @moorehn Heidi N. Moore on x

  Fun fact: Poison pills were designed specifically to be used during hostile takeovers https://www.investopedia.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...

• @rmac18 Ryan Mac on x

  Thiel's venture fund's memorable investing thesis is based on the idea that Twitter is a shitty investment. https://twitter.com/...

• @mikeisaac @mikeisaac on x

  real fucked up that two weeks ago my bosses were like “please get off twitter” and now my job is basically being paid to refresh elons feed

• @marcthiessen Marc Thiessen on x

  Can't wait to see Plan B! https://twitter.com/...

• @davidsacks David Sacks on x

  Instead of accepting Elon's premium to the share price, Twitter's board is planning to dilute the company by giving insiders a sweetheart deal. This is a blatant violation of fiduciary duty and should be illegal. https://www.axios.com/...

• @teslapodcast Rob Maurer on x

  Twitter has adopted a Rights Plan allowing shareholders to buy newly-created shares at 50% of market value if anyone buys more than 15% of outstanding shares. This means if Elon keeps buying, the company dilutes itself at a low value, “poisoning” what Elon would be acquiring. htt…

• @adam_creighton Adam Creighton on x

  Twitter Moves to Block Musk From Increasing Stake. A rolling case study in how boards' interests diverge from shareholders. There shouldn't be a ‘hostile’ takeover; either enough shareholders support a sale or they don't. https://www.wsj.com/...

• @samantar Sam E. Antar on x

  Crazy Eddie Memoirs: Our “poison pill” was 464 pages long and it was prepared by white-shoe law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind. It was ineffective against an investor group who gained control of our company through a hostile proxy battle, but it made our lawyers plenty of money. $TWTR…

• @karaswisher Kara Swisher on x

  Your move @elonmusk — though I suspect @Twitter is going to have to do better than this if they want to avoid shareholder lawsuits. https://t.co/NnuiL38SC3

• @paulconstant Paul Constant on x

  Perhaps the weirdest part of this whole story to me is that the Daily Planet avoided a hostile takeover by Lex Luthor using this exact same method in 1990s Superman comics. https://twitter.com/...

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on x

  Least surprising move of the week. https://twitter.com/...

• @hunterwalk @hunterwalk on x

  One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small https://www.youtube.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x

  this is the “poison pill” we told you would happen. basically makes it hard to buy Twitter via acquiring shares on the open market. Forces @elonmusk to negotiate w/ board and importantly, buys time, source tells me. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @claytravis Clay Travis on x

  Twitter's board has implemented a “poison pill” in an effort to keep Elon Musk from buying the company. https://www.prnewswire.com/...

• @mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x

  https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @mikeisaac @mikeisaac on x

  translation https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @taylorlorenz Taylor Lorenz on x

  Oop 💊☠️ https://www.prnewswire.com/...

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  As expected, Twitter adopts a poison pill https://www.prnewswire.com/...

• @karaswisher Kara Swisher on x

  Some Harvard educated dudes, especially when they come in pairs, are more equal than others. https://twitter.com/...

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  @yishan My most immediate takeaway from this novella of a thread is that Twitter is *way* overdue for long form tweets!

• @techemails @techemails on x

  Elon Musk on tweeting August 21, 2018 https://twitter.com/...

• @jonrussell Jon Russell on x

  Epic thread from ex-Reddit CEO arguing why (sadly) censorship is inevitable for any large scale social network https://twitter.com/...

• @yishan @yishan on x

  Mark Zuckerberg talks about e-foiling in the mornings to avoid having to think about bad news coming in that's like “being punched in the face.”

• @pmarca Marc Andreessen on x

  Just upload an image and load the longform text into the image's ALT field duh. https://twitter.com/...

• @yishan @yishan on x

  The process through which all of that will happen is painful, which is why I don't think Elon should do it. It is not a good use of his time, and I think his time is uniquely valuable and limited.

• @yishan @yishan on x

  I mean, it's not like he isn't already an emotionally damaged guy. (Sorry Elon, it's pretty obvious) But he has overcome a lot. And he does not need more trauma from running Twitter.

• @yishan @yishan on x

  And the worst part, the part that is going to hurt ALL OF HUMANITY, is that this will distract from his mission at SpaceX and Tesla, because it's not just going to suck up his time and attention, IT WILL DAMAGE HIS PSYCHE.

• @repdarrellissa Rep. Darrell Issa on x

  The panic coming from blue-check media after Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter is the fear of losing the ability to censor conservatives online and silence free speech they don't like.

• @pocarles Pierre-Olivier Carles on x

  Instagram doesn't get so much love by @elonmusk... https://twitter.com/...

• @yishan @yishan on x

  Elon is not going to fix some problems. I am absolutely sure of this. He has no idea what he's in for. (He might hire back Jack, which might be ok, but I don't know if Jack wants the job. Who knows. All the tech titans are buddies, kind of)

• @bmeiselas Brett Meiselas on x

  This is truly an outstanding thread. It's incredibly long but well worth the read and breaks down the social media ‘censorship’ debate in the clearest way I've ever seen. https://twitter.com/...

• @daniel_rubino Daniel Rubino on x

  This is a very long thread (very) by the ex-CEO of Reddit, but well worth your time. It captures the fundamental issue with social networks and how the problems are about behavior, *not* ideas. Yes, it's complex, sorry, and not just “bUT mA fReEdOm oF sPeEcH.” https://twitter.com…

• @yishan @yishan on x

  Elon is going to try like heck to “fix” the problems he sees. Each problem he “fixes” will just cause 3 more problems.

• @rowantrollope @rowantrollope on x

  Great thread and insightful thread, but there's a false equivalence between the pre internet free speech crowd and todays hysterical censorship culture. What we're doing now isn't working so its worth trying something radically different https://twitter.com/...

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on x

  This thread is very good and should be required reading for anyone who thinks they know how content moderation works. But, of course, the usual people are flipping out about it without bothering to understand any of it. https://twitter.com/...

• @reckless Nilay Patel on x

  Content moderation at scale is not a solvable problem. You cannot succeed at it. You can fail slightly better than everyone else fails https://twitter.com/...

• @johnbiggs John Biggs on x

  Read this thread. Genx and and by extension boomers think information wants to be free. It is already free. The trick is that information has infected the physical world and is now actionable and dangerous. They didn't censor trump because he was a meanie. He was dangerous. https…

• @dsilverman Dwight Silverman on x

  READ. THIS. THREAD. https://twitter.com/...

• @reckless Nilay Patel on x

  The former CEO of Reddit says the thing everyone with a lick of sense has been saying -> https://twitter.com/...

• @yishan @yishan on x

  Jack has his meditation retreats and unusual diets and spiritual journeys - he's an odd guy yeah - but I'm pretty sure some of that is so he can cope with All You Fucking Assholes.

• @markpinc Mark Pincus on x

  Must read. @yishan gets it so right about all of us. Even being vaguely left snd center at the same time. https://twitter.com/...

• @geoffbaron Geoffrey Baron on x

  Good discussion on censorship on the web. Having spent 20+ years building on the Internet and in the PR/Crisis comms world this rings true. Both ‘sides’ are trying to ‘cancel’ each other. What should/shouldn't be censored will be an eternal struggle. https://twitter.com/...

• @prof_farrell Matt Farrell on x

  Excellent thread here. Some helpful insights on social platforms/censorship. I tend to blame the process not the people, but the incentive structures facing users (and administrators) of platforms seem to produce the worst outcomes. https://twitter.com/...

• @briansowards Brian Sowards on x

  This is, definitely, the most insightful & accurate explanation of what being a social media property means today And why us OG cyberpunk just want our frontier back 😭 Thanks @yishan https://twitter.com/...

• @megancarpentier Megan Carpentier on x

  As someone who did comment moderation at a lot of places, EVERYTHING about this is true but would add that moderating comments (aka “censoring people acting like assholes regardless of politics") grows overall engagement. https://twitter.com/...

• @lesliecampisi Leslie Campisi on x

  The generational framing here is spot on. Web 1.0/2.0 biases around freedom & internet as a frontier are relevant to all tech companies as they mature. We need leaders who understand that the web they fell in love with no longer exists. https://twitter.com/...

• @kevinmarks Kevin Marks on x

  @Techmeme @yishan This is a good thread, but also building a network in a way that amplifies this chaos and provides a toolset to attack people has been twitter's failing for a very long time.

• @marcowenjones Marc Owen Jones on x

  Good thread on internet culture and content moderation, although as @jricole mentioned, a lot of the controversial or polarising content is often the work of bad actors manipulating the platform. Get rid of them, then at least we can have a conversation about real people https://…

• @barrylyga Barry Lyga on x

  Yes, this is a good (long!) thread, but it veers into both-sides-ism and neglects to acknowledge that only one side is stock-piling guns and threatening to murder the other side. Other than that (significant) omission, there's a lot of value in here. https://twitter.com/...

• @dlauer Dave Lauer on x

  This is an exceptional overview of what it's like to try to run a social media platform, and about how reasoned arguments have simply given way to the worst possible consequence-less rhetoric. If we want social media platforms to be better, we have to be better humans. https://tw…

• @abhymurarka Abhishek Murarka on x

  Whenever there is a big topic that catches mass fancy, there come a defining read on it. This thread is that on the Elon Musk- Twitter saga. Do read. https://twitter.com/...

• @hankgreen Hank Green on x

  This is an incredibly useful thread. There are things in it I disagree with, but it is the best thing I've seen come out of the “Elon wants to buy Twitter” discourse. (@yishan is a former CEO of Reddit) https://twitter.com/...

• @dislekcia Danny Day on x

  Perhaps unsurprisingly, the dude that ran reddit doesn't understand censorship, platform responsibility or social issues like hate speech. Who could possibly have guessed that he'd have a merely process/features concept of social interaction? https://twitter.com/...

• @muddywatersre @muddywatersre on x

  This thread strikes me as spot on regarding perceptions of political bias by social media platforms. For everybody who clapped back at me yesterday over my Tweet about the dystopia that would be MuskTwit, this is great reading. https://twitter.com/...

• @cathyyoung63 Cathy Young on x

  Not sure I agree with every word. But fascinating thread. https://twitter.com/...

• @charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x

  This is the most brilliant thread that you'll see on this topic; on the whole topic of social networks and “political leanings” and “censorship”, from someone who's been there. Read this. You'll be SO much wiser by the end. Almost every tweet is quotable. Great points every one. …

• @edzitron Ed Zitron on x

  And if there's one place I'd give credit for being able to deal with issues of free speech and not letting things run rampant in a way that's very bad, I'm picking Reddit https://twitter.com/...

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Phenomenal thread from former Reddit CEO ⬇️⬇️ ⬇️ https://twitter.com/...

• @davemcclure Dave McClure on x

  not just some yahoo's random opinion — @yishan was briefly CEO @Reddit, and is old-school PayPal mafia (also ex-FB)... thoughtful take on “free” speech vs. content moderation. 🤔⚖️🗽 https://twitter.com/...

• @levie Aaron Levie on x

  Read this entire thread if you think running a social network is easy. https://twitter.com/...

• @joshelman Josh Elman on x

  This is an absolute masterpiece of a thread on why moderating social networks in 2022 is very different than the original “free speech” internet, why it is about behavior and network collapse and safety vs about arbitrating truth, and the superhuman work involved to try... https:…

• @alwaleed_talal @alwaleed_talal on x

  I don't believe that the proposed offer by @elonmusk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of @Twitter given its growth prospects. Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC & I reject this offer. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/.…

• @zerohedge @zerohedge on x

  Well this is awkward: TWTR board hired Goldman to “advise” it that the @elonmusk $54.20 offer is too low. Only problem: Goldman has a SELL rating with a $30 price target. Oops. https://twitter.com/...

• @neil_irwin Neil Irwin on x

  American hero @matt_levine interrupted his vacation to write about Elon and Twitter and we are all grateful. https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @matt_levine Matt Levine on x

  oh fine https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @alexstamos Alex Stamos on x

  God, I wish I could write like @matt_levine https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @jtemple James Temple on x

  Just a gem-filled take on Musk and Twitter from @CaseyNewton, including: https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on x

  I assume this post walking through all the things Elon Musk shows he does not understand about content moderation will be read calmly with the responses and my inbox will fill with thoughtful nuanced replies. https://www.techdirt.com/...

• @benedictevans Benedict Evans on x

  Watching Elon say that you should be allowed to say anything ‘legal’ online, which is what everyone says until they discover how social networks work https://livestream.com/...

• @mcuban Mark Cuban on x

  My conclusion, @elonmusk is fucking with the SEC. His filing w/the SEC allows him to say he wants to take a company private for $54.20 😂 Vs his “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured” Price go up. His shares get sold. Profit⬆️ SEC like WTF just happened.

• @frankluntz Frank Luntz on x

  “Twitter is not the town square, and it's a ridiculous analogy. The Internet itself is the town square. Twitter is just one private shop in that town square with its own rules.” https://www.techdirt.com/...

• @can @can on x

  ppl are legit bothered by the idea of a crazy person owning the public town square but like the same ppl wold probz say “wow congrats” if their friend went on to get a job at meta platforms aka facebook, a real town square owned by a crazy person — the biggest prob in tech!

• @nash076 @nash076 on x

  This is how bids happen: rumor, leaks, but nobody is screaming from a hilltop with a trumpet up their ass. Unlike Elon. https://nypost.com/...

• @evacide Eva on x

  There is no room to quote all of @mmasnick's take on Musk's understanding of content moderation, free speech, and the public square, so just read it yourself because his take is the right take: https://www.techdirt.com/...

• @jayrosen_nyu Jay Rosen on x

  In this post about how little Musk understands, @mmasnick has to keep saying “as anyone who has lived through (or read up on) the history of content moderation knows...” https://www.techdirt.com/... On content moderation Musk is like a chess player still learning how the rook mov…

• @fawfulfan Matthew Chapman on x

  What's telling is that none of these people ever say what they are banned from saying on social media. They claim in the abstract “conservative viewpoints” are being censored, but they never actually point to what conservative viewpoints, specifically, are being censored. https:/…

• @alexhern Alex Hern on x

  One of the funnier subplots of Musk/twitter is that he literally shut down the press office of his $1trn car company because “its main channel for product promotion is Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's Twitter account”... which he didn't own and didn't control

• @jason_pontin Jason Pontin on x

  I could make Twitter much better with a half dozen simple design fixes. I could make it radically better—Utopian good—with another six architectural and business model reforms. Let me run the place in my spare time from finding, funding, and growing Deep Tech breakthroughs. https…

• @joshuatopolsky Joshua Topolsky on x

  A deliciously fun read https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @arcalinea Jay Graber on x

  The reason a platform as important as Twitter should be a protocol is that someone buying the company, or any other crazy thing that could happen over the long course of history, shouldn't disrupt this essential tool for human connection and social sense-making.

• @charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x

  Hearing Elon say Twitter should open source its algorithm and looking forward to Tesla doing the same for its AutoPilot software

• @davidrlurie @davidrlurie on x

  @ScottNover The SEC consent decree will remain in place, whoever owns Twitter, unless and until the judge rules otherwise. Musk plainly hates that fact.

• @leahculver Leah Culver on x

  Forming a DAO to buy Twitter.

• @maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x

  The one consistent thing through Elon Musk's temper tantrum has been his total inability to grasp the basics of how social media works. It is, for example, 100% “legal” to use the reply function to spam everyone. Users get banned for it because of Twitter's Terms of Service. http…

• @nick_stevens_gr NickStevens Graphics on x

  Elon Musk's Twitter takeover could undo years of progress https://techcrunch.com/... via @techcrunch “Twitter has a beautiful culture of hilarious constructive criticism, and I saw that go silent because of his minions attacking employees,”

• @alexstamos Alex Stamos on x

  It's shocking that Elon has such a childish view of what has to happen every day just to make social media usable. He's spectacularly poorly prepared for this. Reminder: there are 3-5 orders of magnitude more moderation 99% of users agree with than the hard political calls. https…

• @edbott Ed Bott on x

  “Mr. Musk, that person from the SEC is still holding on line 2, and your lawyers are calling on line 3.” https://twitter.com/...

• @tyler Tyler Winklevoss on x

  Censorship is bad enough, but the coordination between social media companies, the media, and the government has been downright sinister. Hopeful that @elonmusk can fix this.

• @tracyalloway Tracy Alloway on x

  Asked if funding is secured, @elonmusk says “I can do it if possible” and I feel like this perfectly circular response is something that I will be borrowing a lot going forward. Editor: Can you get it to me by Tuesday? Me: “I can do it if possible.”

• @rmac18 @rmac18 on x

  Musk is talking about “his obsession with truth” on stage right now. Four years ago, he tried to get me to write that a British cave rescuer in Thailand was a “child rapist” because of false information fed to him by a fake private investigator.

• @decryptmedia Decrypt on x

  “It takes some pretty impressive mental gymnastics to associate any type of ‘freedom’ with the richest man in the world initiating a hostile takeover,” says @ummjackson, co-creator of Dogecoin. https://decrypt.co/... https://twitter.com/...

• @alexstamos Alex Stamos on x

  There is no way you unlock the value of Twitter by making it 99.9% porn, fake Ray-Ban and male enhancement ads. He really doesn't seem to understand the adversarial nature of running any online speech platform. @elonmusk, happy to privately speedrun my trust and safety class! htt…

• @eleanorterrett Eleanor Terrett on x

  In his Ted talk, @elonmusk is talking about letting Twitter run similarly to the blockchain where the algorithms are controlled by the community rather than a handful of people writing and enforcing the rules.

• @kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x

  “In my view, Twitter should match the laws of the country.” - Elon Musk on how Twitter should handle user speech. Said the algorithm code should all be public.

• @scottnover Scott Nover on x

  Elon Musk can buy Twitter but he still can't tweet about Tesla without a lawyer's approval. https://twitter.com/...

• @samidh @samidh on x

  Effective moderation is not inherently in conflict with free speech. It is required for people to feel free to speak. Anyone who doesn't get this has a high school stoner level grasp of societal issues and has never spent 5 min working on trust & safety. https://www.bloomberg.com…

• @business @business on x

  BREAKING: Elon Musk says he's “not sure that I will actually be able to” acquire Twitter in his first public comments about the takeover offer https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @tayhatmaker Taylor Hatmaker on x

  elon musk log off challenge https://techcrunch.com/...

• @tayhatmaker Taylor Hatmaker on x

  I wrote about how Elon Musk could undo a lot of Twitter's recent progress on serious platform problems like misinformation and harassment. Content moderation isn't rocket science but it isn't what he's making it out to be, either. https://techcrunch.com/...

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Elon Musk gives Twitter reasons to reject his bid https://www.axios.com/...

• @gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x

  Perhaps he should buy Clubhouse? He can have a platform for rambling, a16z makes a buck or two and the rest of us can ignore all three. https://techcrunch.com/...

• @charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x

  🙄 of course there's absolutely no way this won't be gamed by the people who have the most to gain from gaming the algorithm https://twitter.com/...

• @alexweprin Alex Weprin on x

  Elon Musk says he has a “Plan B” if Twitter's board rejects his takeover offer. Pitches Twitter as an open-source social network with minimal censorship. The details: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...

• @lanceulanoff Lance Ulanoff on x

  Why do people think “Open Source” is the answer to everything? https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...

• @kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x

  Musk's thoughts on policing users: * if it's in a gray area, leave it up * more temporary suspensions, be careful with permanent bans * you need to be able to say stuff people disagree with Twitter, of course, would argue it already does all of this stuff

• @andyjayhawk @andyjayhawk on x

  Musk has said he felt “coerced” into settling with the SEC over his “funding secured” tweet, but has yet to provide any evidence to refute the SEC's findings that funding was actually not secured. https://twitter.com/...

• @byyourlogic @byyourlogic on x

  Twitter takeover stuff made me think of this again. this story really died a prolonged death https://www.theverge.com/...

• @lisaabramowicz1 Lisa Abramowicz on x

  Elon Musk says his bid for Twitter is intended to create “an inclusive arena for free speech,” not as a way to make money. “I don't care about the economics at all.” “I could technically afford,” although he adds he doesn't know whether he'll be able to. https://www.bloomberg.com…

• @tprstly Theo Priestley on x

  And there's the dump https://twitter.com/...

• @rsarver Ryan Sarver on x

  I love the *idea* of @elonmusk buying twitter. But I fear he's spent about as much time thinking through the really complex challenges of how to fix it as most people do their fantasy football lineup.

• @richerd @richerd on x

  If Elon' offer to buy Twitter is rejected. The next logical move is to create a DAO and attempt to buy Twitter ourselves. We can call it the Titter DAO as homage (for the culture of course)

• @pmarca Marc Andreessen on x

  Elon must not be allowed to impose his refusal to censor us on us.

• @mattblaze Matt Blaze on x

  I'm sure the erratic billionaire guy will mature and grow in to it once the deal is settled.

• @arcalinea Jay Graber on x

  Power changes hands many times across centuries. It's been a little over a decade since online social networks were created. We have to take the long view and think, “what if someone bad takes this over,” and build more resilient systems.

• @nickadobos Nick Dobos on x

  How do you simultaneously open source the algorithm and remove all bots? Won't the bots just get better? Proof of Stake?

• @nickadobos Nick Dobos on x

  Least surprising TED talk ever lol

• @ncweaver Nicholas Weaver on x

  Gee, I wonder if this is just a pump & dump scheme to try to make his buy-a-board-seat purchase less incredibly dumb... https://twitter.com/...

• @joerogan Joe Rogan on x

  Praise Odin for Elon Musk. https://www.instagram.com/...

• @brosandprose Ella Dawson on x

  Are we really asking Elon Musk how he's ~so good~ at Twitter, instead of asking about the out of control racial and gender discrimination at Tesla under his leadership? Or his tweets comparing Trudeau to Hitler? Or his avoidance of COVID safety regulations at his factories?

• @wolfofwallst Jordan Belfort on x

  Elon Musk Ted Talk — he just called the SEC a bunch of bastards! Classic!

• @joepompliano Joe Pompliano on x

  Elon is speaking about Twitter at TED. He says he doesn't “have all the answers” but that the algorithm should be open-sourced. He wants to limit spam & his main objective is to defend free speech. He also says it's not about money. “I don't care about the economics at all.” http…

• @brij Brij Singh on x

  Twitter board has execs from salesforce and silverlake. They will get competitive offers. I wonder what made Musk go all “barbarians at the gate” with his low ball offer. Raise the offer and get all the employees to root for you! https://www.theinformation.com/ ...

• @lizrummy @lizrummy on x

  He has not thought about the implementation before this moment https://twitter.com/...

• @ericnewcomer Eric Newcomer on x

  I mean Donald Trump named his social media company “Truth Social.” Reassuring to hear they're both so obsessed with truth https://twitter.com/...

• @ryanwhitwam Ryan Whitwam on x

  It's pretty telling that every right-wing asshole account is cheering for the richest man in the world as he tries to buy a website in the name of “free speech.” Yes, the same people who are doing book bans and restricting what teachers can say.

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  I honestly would have bet money that Elon Musk ended that by saying “Thank you for coming to my TED talk”

• @kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x

  TED talk is over. I think the biggest takeaway here is that despite Musk loudly claiming he wants to buy Twitter because of free speech issues, most of the things he mentioned he would do wrt policing speech felt like things Twitter already does. Clear there isn't a master plan h…

• @alexstamos Alex Stamos on x

  @elonmusk Also not sure how Twitter stays up and running in a 0% tech unemployment economy when he continuously insults the employee base. A question for enterprising reporters: does accepting a tender to go private trigger accelerated vesting of RSUs? If so... swoosh out the doo…

• @mmasnick Mike Masnick on x

  As I said a few weeks ago, Elon does not want “free speech” or “no moderation” on Twitter. He just wants *different* moderation. https://twitter.com/...

• @pt @pt on x

  This is just a specific case of the general: trust in institutions is good, actually. That's a good reason to algorithmically discourage the grifters who monetize erosion of trust in institutions on mainstream apps, not to see their grift as a “free speech” issue. https://twitter…

• @karlbode Karl Bode on x

  very large chance it's all a big, dumb distraction https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Tend to agree with this. That said, Facebook is controlled by a single person. It's publicly traded, but one man controls the vote. https://twitter.com/...

• @karaswisher Kara Swisher on x

  Btw the TED audience is the perfect place for Elon to unload. They love being there in the room and they will be friendly. Elon can certainly handle tough questions, but with little pushback this is the interview equivalent of a high five. That said, perfect timing! https://twitt…

• @jtemple James Temple on x

  It's especially impressive that his most concrete proposal (beyond a misogynistic name change) is a product already in the works. https://twitter.com/...

• @juliafawal Julia Fawal on x

  “I'm not saying I have all the answers here” says @elonmusk at #TED2022 in response to very basic questions about “free speech” & what he wants to change at Twitter. He says he'll add an edit button, but has no answer on how to manage it. He's got no answers to these softball Qs.

• @kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x

  Is there a Plan B if the board rejects your offer? “There is,” Musk says, but declined to share.

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  @Alwaleed_Talal ... Interesting. Just two questions, if I may. How much of Twitter does the Kingdom own, directly & indirectly? What are the Kingdom's views on journalistic freedom of speech?

• @shoshanazuboff Shoshana Zuboff on x

  Friends, Musk/Twitter headlines are all variants of ‘what will Elon do?’ It's a signal of how lost we are. We obsess over one man and his whims because we don't yet have the democratic rule of law needed to govern our information spaces. Without law power is dangerous.🧵[1/8]

• @maxboot @maxboot on x

  I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter. He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.

• @justinsuntron @justinsuntron on x

  I believe @Twitter is far from unleashing its full potential, thus I am offering $60 per share to take the platform private. But we fully support the reform initiatives of @elonmusk and would love to see Twitter becoming crypto-native and Web3 friendly.

• @reuters @reuters on x

  Buyout firm Thoma Bravo has contacted Twitter to express interest in putting together an acquisition offer that would rival Tesla CEO Elon Musk's $43 billion bid, people familiar with the matter said https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @rabois Keith Rabois on x

  The Twitter woke employees are in for a rude awakening. Elon once threatened to fire all the interns for waiting in a long line for coffee at SpaceX and installed cameras to ensure it wouldn't happen again.

• @mtaibbi Matt Taibbi on x

  A professional journalist who opposed free speech was not long ago considered a logical impossibility, but the Musk-Twitter news has brought a lot of them out of the woodwork: https://taibbi.substack.com/ ...

• @maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x

  Looking forward to him learning from his lawyers that the Revlon standard (506 A.2d 173, Del. 1986) precludes Twitter's Board from simply passing his offer along. They have a duty to maximize shareholder value, they can't just accept a 420-joke number with unclear financing. http…

• @alexhern Alex Hern on x

  If this story is true it recontextualises an awful lot of the last decade here https://twitter.com/...

• @iyengarish Rishi Iyengar on x

  Tbf “tell me why” pretty much encapsulates today's overall vibe https://twitter.com/...

• @arcalinea Jay Graber on x

  Fascinating thread from someone who was there in the early days https://twitter.com/...

• @andrewhartar Andrew Hart on x

  Two huge claims in this thread: 1. Twitter bought TweetDeck to protect itself against the threat of a billionaire acquiring all third-party Twitter apps 2. When Twitter infamously shut down their developer API without explanation, it was for the same reason. https://twitter.com/.…

• @thevunderkind @thevunderkind on x

  this is...huge if true. wow. https://twitter.com/...

• @thoughtwax Emmet Connolly on x

  Fascinating backstory on how Twitter became the company it is today (and the platform it is not) https://twitter.com/...

• @bchappatta Brian Chappatta on x

  For those wondering, Elon Musk has about $2.95 billion of “cash,” as estimated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He just made a $43 billion cash offer for Twitter. You can figure out where that cash will come from. https://twitter.com/...

• @beniaminmincu @beniaminmincu on x

  Twitter has effectively become the defacto Town Square for the world. It is important for humanity that free speech be preserved, and twitter's potential be unlocked. Perhaps the optimal path would be for @elonmusk to buy twitter & immediately open source and decentralize it. htt…

• @mikeelgan @mikeelgan on x

  Phrase of the moment: “Elon Twitter” https://twitter.com/...

• @alexeheath Alex Heath on x

  Can't make this stuff up: It's “focus week” for employees at Twitter. They had Monday off and the rest of the week is supposed to be heads-down on projects with minimal meetings. Now they wake up to Elon's hostile takeover playing out.

• @carnage4life @carnage4life on x

  The question for Twitter's board is whether the historical precedent in rejecting Elon's acquisition offer is Yahoo rejecting Ballmer's offer (high point on journey to irrelevance) or Snapchat rejecting Zuck's offer (set tone as a company with a bold vision now worth 20x offer).

• @zei_squirrel @zei_squirrel on x

  I wonder what a twitter owned by elon musk would have done about the account which is tracking his flights that he tried to shut down https://twitter.com/...

• @mcuban Mark Cuban on x

  Every major tech company , Google, fb, et al is on the phone with their anti trust lawyers asking if they can buy Twitter and get it approved. And Twitter is on the phone with their lawyers asking which can be their white knight. Gonna be interesting https://twitter.com/...

• @jack @jack on x

  @SGBarbour as a public company, twitter has always been “for sale.” that's the real issue.

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  Taking Twitter private at $54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board

• @haroldpollack Harold Pollack on x

  Imagine a world in which people of stratospheric wealth were as obsessed w/protecting global health as they are w/cryptocurrency+culture-war fights on social media. Elon Musk could provide covid vaccines to every remaining unvaccinated human at lower cost than this Twitter bid. h…

• @chriscillizza Chris Cillizza on x

  My favorite newsletter these days is by @matt_levine. His take on Elon and Twitter is characteristically smart and funny as hell. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @susannalharris Susanna Harris, PhD on x

  This whole thing is kicking up some useful conversations (and maybe a bidding war for Twitter) but I don't think we need to worry about him taking the helm. I particularly like this @matt_levine article to explain why: https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @profgalloway Scott Galloway on x

  “One of the questions was of course ‘do you have funding secured,’ and his answer was ‘I have sufficient assets.’ Which means no! ‘Yes’ means yes. 'I'm really rich, surely someone will give me the money' means no one has yet.” @matt_levine https://t.co/3INDCEOKDU

• @mikeisaac @mikeisaac on x

  matt has a predictably good newsletter on it today (the snakes in a can part got me) Sure Elon Musk Might Buy Twitter https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @reckless Nilay Patel on x

  You know, you could fairly describe a publicly-traded company with a single class of shares as a decentralized ownership structure with community governance based on token holding https://twitter.com/...

• @lizsimmie Liz Simmie on x

  There are a lot of good lines in this but this is my favourite ‘Musk is not even gesturing in the direction of minimal compliance with securities laws at this point’ https://twitter.com/...

• @burnettgracem Grace Maral Burnett on x

  “Ordinarily if a billionaire chief executive officer of a public company offers to buy a company, the odds that he is kidding are quite low. When it's Elon Musk, the historical odds are, like, 50/50.” @matt_levine https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @karenkho Karen K. Ho on x

  This has the greatest paragraph about a can of snakes and investment bankers I have ever read. https://twitter.com/...

• @stevenbjohnson Steven Johnson on x

  Bonus points for the phlogiston reference. https://twitter.com/...

• @maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x

  FYI if you want to see spelled out why Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter isn't going anywhere. It's kind of like if Pete Davidson said he's going to play in the NBA. Theoretically possible? Sure, maybe he has a secret talent for 3-pointers. Actually going to happen? No. https://tw…

• @ampressman Aaron Pressman on x

  Goldman will say “so uh where's the financing coming from” and Morgan Stanley will say “oh the financing is in this can” and hand Goldman a can and Goldman will open the can and a bunch of fake snakes will pop out. “AAAHHH,” Goldman will scream, and then they will chuckle https:/…

• @kbandersen Kurt Andersen on x

  If you want to read just one article explaining and analyzing the Musk-Twitter business, this very smart and good-natured piece is probably it. https://twitter.com/...

• @edmundlee Edmund Lee on x

  .@matt_levine continues to perform the best exegesis on @elonmusk + @twitter (and all while on vacation!) https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @ryanlawler Ryan Lawler on x

  It was worth it for this alone https://twitter.com/...

• @pkafka Peter Kafka on x

  “Ordinarily if a billionaire chief executive officer of a public company offers to buy a company, the odds that he is kidding are quite low. When it's Elon Musk, the historical odds are, like, 50/50.” https://twitter.com/...

• @carlquintanilla Carl Quintanilla on x

  “When Musk was pretending to take $TSLA private, he pretended that he was going to let all of Tesla's existing shareholders remain shareholders of the new ‘private’ Tesla. This is not a thing.. And now he's doing it again.. Sure buddy!” @matt_levine $TWTR https://www.bloomberg.co…

• @timodc Tim Miller on x

  This is excellent. Tl;dr (but you should R): The musk twitter takeover is done unless he flakes, it's just a matter of time til the twitter folks realize it. https://twitter.com/...

• @rubinreport Dave Rubin on x

  Elon is literally trying to save the free world. He could buy and island or leave on a spaceship but he is choosing to fight. Notice who is with him and who is against him... https://twitter.com/...

• @live_news_nick @live_news_nick on x

  MORE: “One person close to the situation said that the board wanted to support CEO Parag Agrawal, who only assumed the role in November. Meanwhile, Musk hasn't provided details of his plans for Twitter or his financing for the deal.” $TWTR https://www.theinformation.com/ ...

• @antoniogm @antoniogm on x

  It's fascinating the outcry at the thought of Elon buying Twitter: We don't want this guy with the wrong values running the public square! Meanwhile one of the biggest Twitter shareholders is....Saudi Arabia. https://twitter.com/...

• @keithboykin Keith Boykin on x

  The Wall Street Journal reports that Twitter is considering a poison pill that would prevent Elon Musk from significantly increasing his stake in the company. https://www.wsj.com/...

• @carnage4life @carnage4life on x

  Elon already putting Twitter's board in a headlock if they don't put his offer to a shareholder vote versus rejecting it out of hand. There definitely will be some angry shareholders if there isn't a very very good reason for rejecting the takeover bid. https://twitter.com/...

• @scottnover Scott Nover on x

  Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has nothing to do with “free speech.” My latest essay in @qz: https://qz.com/...

• @joshdcaplan Josh Caplan on x

  Latest: Vanguard Group recently upped its stake in Twitter and is now the company's largest shareholder, bumping Elon Musk out of the top spot. https://www.wsj.com/...

• @caroljsroth Carol Roth on x

  “I'm going to leave Twitter if Elon Musk takes over” is the new “I'm going to move to Canada if Trump wins”.

• @jeffnolan Jeff Nolan on x

  gee ya think? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @nickbilton Nick Bilton on x

  The Twitter board is currently watching season two of Succession to determine how to respond to Musk's takeover bid. “Pause it! Pause it! Logan just did a poison pill defense... Quick, that's it, we have to do a poison pill defense!”

• @ashleyrcarman Ashley Carman on x

  new (and not related to elon musk): i checked in on facebook's audio efforts and it's cooled down a lot. the company is focused on the metaverse and other priorities, like reels, and partners say its interest in podcasting is fading https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @amir Amir Efrati on x

  new: Twitter's board views Musk's bid as unwelcome, we are told. That suggests a big fight is brewing. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Very notable that Twitter stock isn't rising close to Musk's bid. Traders either don't believe he's serious, that he can get the cash or that the board will accept.

• @gaberivera Gabe Rivera on x

  Would love if @TEDchris had asked Elon Musk to list, in his view, the most serious examples of free speech being limited on Twitter...

• @armchairdude @armchairdude on x

  Maybe this whole Elon Musk Twitter thing is the catalyst that gets someone to sit up and finally attempt to build a better Twitter. https://www.techmeme.com/...