Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion

[Anti Federalist]

If he simply stops Twitter from censoring people then there will be liberal and conservative cesspools on Twitter. Jack Dorsey when he kinda/sorta lamented his roll in creating internet censorship talked about Usenet. Usenet was truly a free for all. NOBODY owned it and all attempts and censoring free speech on Usenet failed for good and for ill. (Usenet is were the term "spam" was invented.) What is needed is an improved version of Usenet were it's easy to block people you don't like talking to you or your community, but they can say whatever the hell they want to their community, even if it's about you. That said....I have no idea at this point whether or not I trust Musk. But things can't get any worse....can they?

Agreed...USENET was great back in the day.

That's what we need to go back to.

 

[69360]

Elon better hope a Republican wins in 2024, or I think the deep state is gonna tank both Tesla and SpaceX

I don't see how they could. Space X is bigger than NASA at this point. There aren't going to be any more Russian rocket engines for NASA, so who else is going to send things into space? If Trump doesn't run, a republican easily wins in 2024

 

[jmdrake]

This:



All that and he becomes a right wing darling too. Can you think of a better way to troll twitter?

Yeah. And then there's the "false hope" scenario. What would REALLY deal Twitter a death blow? Why if people quit using it in favor of something else. But if it looks like a "white knight" will come in and "save Twitter from itself" the Twixodus might cease.

 

[ClaytonB]

 

[ClaytonB]

Elon better hope a Republican wins in 2024, or I think the deep state is gonna tank both Tesla and SpaceX

Naw, he calculated that too. Telsa is their golden poster-child for "green" technology. He knows they can't go to war with Tesla itself. They can try to hit him personally (for "misconduct" of some kind or another) and that's what they're attempting to do with the SEC crap, but I predict it will turn out to be a tempest in a teapot. They're literally grasping at straws.

 

[TheTexan]

What's really funny is that if you openly support Nazi's in Ukraine - that's fine.

If your tweet criticizes Nazi's in Ukaine.... you get banned.

 

[Anti Globalist]

 

[oyarde]

But they didnt offer more than it is worth for all of it ?

 

[Anti Globalist]

Prediction: This whole beef with Musk and Twitter is a gigantic psyop. This is definitely gonna go a total 180 somehow.

 

[ClaytonB]

 

[ClaytonB]

Prediction: This whole beef with Musk and Twitter is a gigantic psyop. This is definitely gonna go a total 180 somehow.

Prediction: Musk is serious. Tw@tter is certainly going to reject his bid and he will leverage the hoopla to launch his own alternative to Tw@tter, operating on the same non-profit pattern as OpenAI, which is a Musk alternative to DeepMind.

PS: Some folks on RPF have this idea that Tech = Evil. Tech, in itself, is not evil. We're using tech to communicate on RPF and this is solving one of the major organizational problems that libertarians were unable to solve in the 80's, 90's, etc. At that time, libertarians were saying, "If we only had a more effective way than monthly newsletters for libertarians to share ideas and resources, the movement will explode." Well, we have it, it's called the Internet, and the movement has exploded. The censorship on Tw@tter is no concern to me and causes me exactly zero grief for the simple reason that I don't use Tw@tter and never will. It's only a matter of time until a reasonable and widely-used alternative emerges.

 

[Occam's Banana]

And speaking of the Old Gray Whore - she's as un-self-aware as she is debauched ...

No...no...no...I refuse to believe that.

These assholes are Marxists, they are working the plan for revolution and this constant lying and bullshitting and flip flopping is all just part of the mind fuck.

NOBODY could be so ever fucking dimwitted, so as to lack such a magnitude self awareness.

A fucking amoeba would have more self awareness if that was the fact.

These media jackals are enemies of the people and the republic.

Agreed.

To clarify, when I refer to the corporate press (or other organs of the Cathedral) as being "un-self-aware", I don't mean that they are unaware (or are not capable of being aware) of their own self-serving contradictions and smarmy hypocrisies. (However, many of them may be just that, and as cynical as I can be, I wouldn't give the cog-drone stenographers of "goodthink" among them too much credit, either. As always, "useful idiots" abound, and the Outer Party is full of them.)

What I mean is that they are oblivious to the fact that they are no longer the potent and powerful curators of public discourse that they once were but still imagine themselves to be. The days when an avuncular Walter Cronkite could tell you "that's the way it is" and be taken seriously at his word are long over. Every time they peddle some asinine bit of nonsense (such as that New York Times item painting Elon Musk as some kind of wannabe Citizen-Kane-style "press baron"), they think they are advancing their cause, but they are actually just exposing their increasingly desperate impotence for all to see.

And see it they will. We have the Internet, social media, and "Big Tech" (despite themselves) to thank for that fact. They are being hoisted on their own petard, and they simply don't know what to do about it - other than whinging about the urgent need for censorship "content moderation" in defense of "democracy" (or concocting bizarre and ridiculous analogies involving fictional characters like Charles Foster Kane, who represented non-fictional people like William Randolph Hearst, who embodied the very sort of "baronial" press that they themselves so obviously wish they could go back to being a part of).

It's a glorious thing to behold.

 

[Occam's Banana]

 

[Occam's Banana]

Twitter CEO tells employees company not 'held hostage' by Musk offer
https://www.reuters.com/technology/...-held-hostage-by-musk-offer-source-2022-04-14
Sheila Dang (14 April 2022)

Twitter Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal sought to reassure employees during an all-hands meeting on Thursday that the company was not being "held hostage" by news of Elon Musk's offer to buy the company, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

As Agrawal took questions from staff that were posted on the company's Slack messaging service, he encouraged employees to remain focused and told them "we as employees control what happens," said the source, who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The meeting came after news broke that the Tesla chief executive officer had offered to buy the social media company for $43 billion.

Agrawal told staff that the board was continuing to review Musk's offer, but that he was limited in what he could share with the employees.

In one section of the question and answer session, one employee asked how the company arrived to the decision to offer Musk a board seat.

"Are we just going to start inviting any and all billionaires to the board?" according to a section of the meeting heard by Reuters.

Agrawal responded that the board was acting in the best interest of shareholders.

"I have a strong point of view that people who are critical of our service, their voice is something that we must emphasize so that we can learn and get better," he said.

Another employee submitted a question asking Agrawal to address how he viewed Musk's definition of free speech and whether it aligned with how Twitter approaches the concept.

Agrawal did not directly address the question, saying much of the company's work was focused on continuously improving "the health of conversation" on Twitter.

Earlier in the Q&A, Agrawal said he believed "Twitter stands for way more than one human, any human."

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on the meeting.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Agreed.

To clarify, when I refer to the corporate press (or other organs of the Cathedral) as being "un-self-aware", I don't mean that they are unaware (or are not capable of being aware) of their own self-serving contradictions and smarmy hypocrisies. (However, many of them may be just that, and as cynical as I can be, I wouldn't give the cog-drone stenographers of "goodthink" among them too much credit, either. As always, "useful idiots" abound, and the Outer Party is full of them.)

What I mean is that they are oblivious to the fact that they are no longer the potent and powerful curators of public discourse that they once were but still imagine themselves to be. The days when an avuncular Walter Cronkite could tell you "that's the way it is" and be taken seriously at his word are long over. Every time they peddle some asinine bit of nonsense (such as that New York Times item painting Elon Musk as some kind of wannabe Citizen-Kane-style "press baron"), they think they are advancing their cause, but they are actually just exposing their increasingly desperate impotence for all to see.

And see it they will. We have the Internet, social media, and "Big Tech" (despite themselves) to thank for that fact. They are being hoisted on their own petard, and they simply don't know what to do about it - other than whinging about the urgent need for censorship "content moderation" in defense of "democracy" (or concocting bizarre and ridiculous analogies involving fictional characters like Charles Foster Kane, who represented non-fictional people like William Randolph Hearst, who embodied the very sort of "baronial" press that they themselves so obviously wish they could go back to being a part of).

It's a glorious thing to behold.

I owe you a rep, it most certainly is.

But it is painful to think that there may be some who do actually believe this.

Good news comrade! Big Brother will only lower the chocolate ration by 50 grams!

 

[Occam's Banana]

Twitter Is Weighing a Poison Pill Defense to Thwart Elon Musk’s Takeover Bid
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-weigh-poison-pill-defense-to-thwart-musk-bid
Sarah Frier & Scott Deveau (14 April 2022)

Twitter Inc.’s board is considering adopting a measure that would protect the company from hostile acquisition bids, according to people with knowledge of the matter, following billionaire Elon Musk’s unwelcome offer to take the company private.

One of the options under consideration is adopting a poison pill, known as a shareholder rights plan, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Twitter could announce the poison pill as soon as tomorrow. Another scenario under consideration is saying that the offer is too low, according to one person.

The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer on Thursday offered $54.20 a share in cash for Twitter, valuing the social media company at $43 billion. Musk, who said it was his “best and final” offer, had already accrued a stake of more than 9% in Twitter since earlier this year. Twitter’s board met Thursday to review Musk’s proposal to determine if it was in the best interest of the company and all of its shareholders. The company declined to comment on the offer or the board’s strategy.

A poison pill defense strategy allows existing shareholders the right to purchase additional shares at a discount, effectively diluting the ownership interest of the hostile party. Poison pills are common among companies under fire from activist investors or in hostile takeover situations.

Included in Musk’s securities filing disclosing the bid was a script of text he sent to the company. In it he said, “it’s a high price and your shareholders will love it.”

At least one prominent investor, though, said the offer was too low and the market reaction appeared to agree. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said the deal doesn’t “come close to the intrinsic value” of the popular social media platform.

Speaking later Thursday at a TED conference, Musk said he wasn’t sure he “will actually be able to acquire it.” He added that his intent was to also retain “as many shareholders as is allowed by the law,” rather than keeping sole ownership of the company himself.

Twitter shares dropped 1.7% in New York on Thursday, reflecting the market’s view that the deal is likely to be rejected or to fall through. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the San Francisco-based company was considering a poison pill defense.

 

[Anti Globalist]

 

[acptulsa]

What were you saying about the First Amendment?

Good job trying to remind us, Murray. But your hunch is wrong. That's what Musk is there to prevent. NASA contracts and self driving electric cars, people. Hello?

 

[ClaytonB]

The Musk-haters in this thread should take a look at the fruits of what Musk is actually doing, instead of just comparing superficialities. "It looks scary! It looks tech-y! It reminds me of a movie in which fictional, time-traveling killer robots take over the world! Agh!!!" The sky might be falling, but it's not because of a lone-ranger PayPal exec who struck it rich in the dotcom era and has a romanticized self-image of himself as a railroad tycoon in the era of AI and nanotechnology... here's what the Chicken Littles are overlooking:

- The foundations of the surveillance state were built long before Musk... it's like saying that UPS is part of the government because it drives on roads. It's true that UPS indirectly benefits from roads, but so do all other transport companies, so stop being ridiculous.

- The surveillance state itself is a corruption of the Internet architecture which was originally designed to be distributed and robust against widespread communications disruptions, such as in the event of a nuclear war. The new architecture created by the surveillance state has supplanted and centralized the original architecture and rendered it brittle, siloed and closed.

- The surveillance state is not an organically American entity, it is an alien entity that has infused American technology and politics. In this way, it is a symbolic map of the wider political sickness that has overtaken America. If you truly believe there are no good guys at all, then there's no point in posting on forums or doing anything at all really, just sit in your armchair and wait for Musk's robot drones to break in your windows, strap you down, and inject you with the Starlink Matrix plug.... they're vectoring to your location as we speak.

Stop with the FUD people! "The empty vessel makes the loudest sound". The bad guys want you to believe they are everywhere, that they have turned everyone and that they own everything... that is enemy psyop propaganda, and it's only effective to the extent that people actually believe it. Stop giving in to FUD and despair!

 

[acptulsa]

- The surveillance state is not an organically American entity, it is an alien entity that has infused American technology and politics. In this way, it is a symbolic map of the wider political sickness that has overtaken America. If you truly believe there are no good guys at all, then there's no point in posting on forums or doing anything at all really, just sit in your armchair and wait for Musk's robot drones to break in your windows, strap you down, and inject you with the Starlink Matrix plug.... they're vectoring to your location as we speak.

Stop with the FUD people! "The empty vessel makes the loudest sound". The bad guys want you to believe they are everywhere, that they have turned everyone and that they own everything... that is enemy psyop propaganda, and it's only effective to the extent that people actually believe it. Stop giving in to FUD and despair!

Yes, that's how they slid Trump under the radar, all right.



Doesn't matter if it's true or not, people need to believe it. That psychological property has been the basis of every con game ever concocted.

Yes. Decent people exist.

No. In this day and age, not one of them is famous. Not one.

You're trying to fit Elon Musk through the eye of a needle.

How many times do we have to learn The Lesson of Ron Paul? I've said it until I'm blue in the face. Good people aren't famous. The good people Must Not Be Named. If they're famous, and say some of the right things sometimes, they're controlled opposition. "But they can't be ignored because they're rich" is an ignorant counter argument. There are rich people you never heard of. They aren't as rich as Musk, but how did he get as rich as Croesus? By being nice?

News flash--er, history flash: Croesus was an asshole.

That's not FUD. It is fact. I don't despair over the fact that the people we can rely on aren't famous. I don't know why so many people are so shallow that they can't see that the Somebodies are nobody and the nobodies are often something special.