this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2024
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  • Elon Musk purchased shares of Twitter after unsuccessfully petitioning the CEO to remove a Twitter account tracking his private jet.
  • Musk's personal gripes played a key role in his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.
  • Musk banned the account after promising not to, highlighting his prioritization of getting his way over free speech.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/ttBv9

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago

I've read all his texts. He definitely bought it because d-list celebrities in his chat groups begged him to.

[–] [email protected] 84 points 7 months ago (13 children)

I think he was trying to get out of Twitter and wanted to do a real life version of his Dogecoin pump and dumps. You know, talk a big game, hype up how the stock is gonna go to the moon after he brings his genius to bare on the company, then dump the stock and pull out of the deal. However, during the hype phase he managed to say some legally binding things and suddenly found himself forced to honor what he thought was going to be empty hype.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Considering that...

  • The Republicans encouraged him multiple times to buy it
  • He quickly stopped blocking (mainly Russian) state-sponsored social manipulation campaigns
  • He allowed right wing agitators back on the platform
  • He almost immediately banned droves of journalists that weren't blindly Pro-Russia and Pro-GOP.
  • He censored / banned all kinds of activists that pushed back against authoritarian (Russia-backed) regimes in other countries

...I have a hunch that he also served the interests of certain political actors with the acquisition. Public town square my lower backside.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Didn't they hang dissenters in public squares back in the old days?

He just didn't clarify when!

[–] [email protected] 40 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (4 children)

For perspective, $30 billion would afford the food and freight to feed every human on Earth for a year.

Less than that would make him a god in Haiti (that is, elevate the nation out of crisis and put a bronze statue of Musk in every state park commemorating how awesome he is.

A few billion could provide free high-speed internet to everyone worldwide. Curiously Musk considered this, but then wondered how to get everyone to pay fees for it.

ETA I got these values when we were discussing Bloomberg's wealth in 2019 when he was trying to Secret Hitler the Democratic party, and how much could be bought with the $500 million (at the time only 200 million was declared) he spent on his campaign. The $30 billion to feed the world value came up in in one of the news articles.

Well, the economy is much different and we're dealing with considerable inflation (and our billionaires, including Bloomberg are much richer.)

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago (2 children)

A few billion could provide free high-speed internet to everyone worldwide

Since there is about few billion people on earth, does that mean that high speed internet costs about a dollar per person? You did not think this through, did you?

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 7 months ago (3 children)

I'm having trouble figuring out the math for this. My assumptions lead me to divide $30b by 8b people, which is about $4/person. I'm not confident that people can eat on $4 for a year.

What am I getting wrong?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 7 months ago

I just did the math myself before seeing your comment and you’re right that math is fucked lmao.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Maybe it's to provide food security just for those who don't already have it

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

They clearly stated

food and freight to feed every human on Earth for a year

It's a shit load of money, but let's be honest you need way more than that to feed everyone. If Musk decided to donate all of his fortune, then maybe that'd be true.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Musks fortune was only 340b at its peak, and the moment he tried to access 44b of it for Twitter it collapsed the price.

Even 340b is still only $41 a year for everyone.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yea even assuming the 340b a 25 pound bag of rice was about 22 bucks when I googled it and about the same for cheap beans. Maybe between the two a person could survive a long time but it wouldn't be pleasant. I'm sure if you buy in those bulks you could get it for way cheaper too but still, math doesn't add up.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Based on the prices I looked up you could feed everyone on Earth 1,800 kcal of potatoes for one day for around 40 billion USD. So... lets do it! Global spud day! Don't ask me where to get a pot that big for boiling all them taters though.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

What a fucking glorious waste of fucking money. YOU CAN FLY COMMERCIAL YOU ASSHAT.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

And sit with the peasants? No way.

This won't stop people from trying to eat him though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

I don't wanna eat Elon I don't know where he's been and ketamine had made that meat all stringy.

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