Musk's Twitter Wars

This isn't the first time Musk has wanted to take a company private. The company he wanted to privatize last time was called Tesla, which happened in 2018. It failed and was thrown back by the iron fist of the US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).

This isn't the first time Musk has tried to take control of Twitter, either. According to Bloomberg, in 2017, Musk posted a tweet about buying Twitter. At that time, he posted a message expressing his admiration for the social media, and then asked how much it would cost to buy the company.

"$43 billion!"

This question has an answer after 5 years.

Compared with other social applications, such as Facebook, Twitter is not a behemoth. However, it is one of the few platforms that can establish a direct channel between opinion leaders and fans, even enough to sway public opinion.

In 2016, to the surprise of all mainstream media, Trump was elected President of the United States and started the unprecedented "Twitter governance". Four years later, Trump lost the election. After the Capitol was attacked, his Twitter account with 88 million fans was ruthlessly deleted by the platform on suspicion of inciting riots.

Since then, Trump tried to set up another stage, relying on "TRUTH Social" to regain the lost influence, but it has always been tepid, and the grand occasion of the year has not been seen.

It can be said that success is also Twitter, and failure is also Twitter.

Also sitting on more than 80 million fans, Musk's success on Twitter is a replica of Trump's first half experience. Any sound he makes on Twitter is enough to set off a huge wave, just send a tweet, and major news media rush to reprint: Bringing Dogecoin with the currency triggers a frenzy of MEME hype; countering critics from all walks of life affects the company's stock price ;Finally, simply disband the public relations department of Tesla headquarters, after all, no matter how powerful the public relations are, it is not as good as Musk's own Twitter.

However, such a big killer has been constrained by Twitter officials, and the deleted Trump account may have touched Musk. Anyway, something has to be done.

Learn from Trump and start anew? or,"If you can't beat them, then buy them."

In public, the narrative of the acquisition of Twitter by the richest man in the world will certainly not be limited to personal self-interest, filling up the pattern.

"I invested in Twitter because I believe it has the potential to become a global platform for free speech, which I believe is necessary for a functioning democratic society." (From Musk's letter to Twitter Chairman Brett Taylor )

"A platform of maximum trust and broad inclusiveness is essential to the future of civilization", Musk said in an interview at the TED conference in Vancouver on April 14, and claimed that he did not care about economic issues at all.

The implication is that Twitter is neither "free" nor "democratic," and requires someone from Ma to use "special acquisition operations" to precisely "transform" Twitter.

Prior to this, Musk, as always, launched a vote to listen to public opinion: "The privatization of Twitter at a price of $54.20 should be decided by shareholders, not by the board of directors."

More than 2.8 million people voted, 83.5% in favor!

No matter which aspect, Musk is more depressed than Twitter now, and the loss of Jack Dorsey's board of directors is more in line with people's expectations about Twitter, especially at the moment when the crusade against WEB2 Internet giants has become politically correct, Musk has transformed into a Heroes who transformed the Internet.

In 2018, Musk suffered the iron fist of the SEC for manipulating the market. The cause of the accusation was that he announced on Twitter that he would "privatize Tesla". In the end, Musk paid 20 million US dollars to settle the matter. As of now, Crypto is still a wild west world. Musk can raise the price of Dogecoin with his words. In fact, the only thing that can restrain Musk is the evil dragon of Twitter.

Regardless of true temperament or fake personality, Twitter has actually become Musk's weapon against Tesla critics, short sellers and the media and a tool to amplify his personal views.

After thinking about it, what Musk ultimately wants may be his absolute freedom of speech.

Apart from Musk, all the bigwigs from the encrypted world are also eager for such freedom. At least for now, Twitter has been regarded as the most "WEB3" WEB2 company.

NBA Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban proposes creating a DAO to buy Twitter.

Proponents of decentralization should create a DAO to acquire Twitter, future token holders to vote on social media trends and identity verification.

SBF, the founder of FTX, conceived the decentralized Twitter in his eyes:

1. Tweets are uploaded to the chain.

2. Two forms of monetization: the underlying protocol can charge per tweet; while at the UI level, users can display ads to make money and use it to pay network fees. Each UI can have its own moderation policy, no longer one person/company controls speech.

3. The following can be integrated into Twitter:

a) Tipping/payment/tokenization of content creators

b) NFTs / digital avatars

c) Of course, why not join DOGE

Whether Musk wants a "Musk or Dogecoin"-centric Twitter or a truly decentralized place of freedom is a question.

After all, making Twitter more free should mean making Twitter more decentralized. No matter how attractive Musk is, it does not mean decentralization itself.

Faced with the menacing Musk, media reports said that Twitter’s board of directors seems to be planning a “poison pill plan” to resist hostile takeovers, that is, to issue a large number of new shares at low prices to dilute the acquirer’s equity. The billionaire investor, Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, who holds a 5.2% stake, also stood up to reject Musk's acquisition proposal.

On April 15th, when Musk attended the Ted 2022 event in Vancouver, he said:"Sufficient assets and ability to complete the acquisition", but also admitted that he is not 100% sure that he can buy Twitter, but even if the acquisition fails, he also has a plan B.

The next step depends on Musk's determination. If his determination is firm enough, this Twitter war will surely turn into a protracted war. However, this is not a bad thing. Regardless of whether Twitter is privatized in the end, in this perhaps protracted battle, Twitter needs to make substantial changes. Compared with the big pie drawn by Musk, such changes may more reliable.