Elon Musk’s bizarre tweets, tall claims and embarassments such as the Cybertruck, makes people wonder if he’s an eccentric billionaire or online jester. Like all of his deals, Musk’s takeover of Twitter also involved a lot of drama and public spats, before he relented midway into a courtroom battle. Days before taking over Twitter for $44 billion, Musk has clarified his role, by updating his bio to “chief twit”, after roaming around in the company’s headquarters with a sink.
Sticking to the antics
The tech tycoon whose April Fool’s joke about bankruptcy fell flat dragging down Tesla stocks with it, apparently wanted to “sink in” at his new firm. The staff had been warned about his visit to the San Francisco office, through a mail from the social media platform’s chief marketing officer.
Eccentric or silly?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a Twit is defined as a “silly annoying person” or a fool to sum it up. An action of twitting is categorised as taunting, which is something Musk is often seen doing on social media. From his Twitter spat with Pablo Escobar’s brother to jibes aimed at Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Musk’s self-proclaimed title seems to suit his online antics.
Costs of clowning around
Musk had initiated a takeover of Twitter after becoming its largest shareholder in April, citing his intentions to bring absolute freedom of speech. But he later had issues with presence of bots or fake handles on the platform, and used them to pull out of the deal. By this time Twitter was prepared for an acquisition and to force Musk to walk the talk, it sued the billionaire.
Musk’s taste for drama also comes with a cost, since he was penalised for a false claim about taking Tesla private on Twitter. Banks which are funding his Twitter acquisition also stand to lose $500 million due to the delay.
