Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter back in 2022 was a rocky experience, but at least we got some savagely entertaining emails out of the lengthy process.
It’s safe to say that Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, which he has since rebranded to ‘X’, has been quite the rollercoaster, and the journey began long before the money officially changed hands.
We’ve seen mass layoffs of existing Twitter staff, wild and seemingly spontaneous feature changes, and strong accusations of misinformation that even the platforms own AI Grok has accused its creator of.
This has not only led to a number of phoenix websites for those who feel like their time on Twitter is over, including the ever-growing Bluesky who many think has scared Musk in recent weeks, but more importantly it has resulted in a significant drop in value for the site, plummeting from the $44 billion that Musk was forced to pay in October 2022.
Musk’s Twitter journey has been eventful to say the least (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
However, emails between Musk and former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal show how the relationship had fractured prior to his purchase, with what many are calling a ‘savage’ response.
Things weren’t always bad between the pair, as initial conversations that led to Musk joining the Twitter board were positive, with Musk saying that he ‘loved’ his conversations with Agrawal, as reported by The Guardian.
Musk went on to state that he had a “ton of ideas” for the platform and that he wanted Twitter to be “maximum amazing,” but remained wary that he might have been “pushing too hard.”
Their relationship quickly became ruptured though after a now-infamous post from Musk on Twitter where he asked “Is Twitter dying?” to his millions of followers. Seems like he was beginning to sour on the purchase.
Agrawal wasn’t too happy with this post, arguing that it wasn’t ‘helping him make Twitter better’, and that it was ‘hurting’ the team’s ability to do work.
It was in response to this Musk pulled out what many consider to be a ‘savage’ reply, as the soon-to-be owner asked, perhaps sarcastically:
“What did you get done this week? I’m not joining the board. This is a waste of time.”
What followed was a rather confusing run of events, where it was announced that Musk wouldn’t be joining the board, but instead had offered to purchase the company for $44bn.
Musk then tried to back out of this purchase shortly after, but was eventually forced into the previously-agreed deal in October of the same year in what he has since claimed was “overpriced” on The Joe Rogan Experience, but has willed to make it “a win for investors.”
Elon Musk’s investment into Twitter, now X, isn’t looking too great from a monetary perspective, as reports suggest that the website is now worth just 72% of the $44 billion he paid back in 2022.
X (formerly Twitter) has changed significantly since Elon Musk took over in 2022, with unpopular feature changes and bizarre statements from its owner highlighting the trending unpopularity of the social media platform.
Musk has also had significant trouble attracting advertisers for X, which many assume is due to the rise in bots, right-wing speech, and misinformation on the service, which has also led many celebrities and businesses to make the jump over to rival Bluesky.
The market value of X has seen a dramatic drop following Musk’s purchase (Ryan Collerd/AFP via Getty Images)
New reports from Axios and Fidelity show that the effect of this have meant that X has dropped nearly 72% less than Musk’s initial purchase value, making it around $12.3 billion overall.
This is despite a 32% rebound in stock price, although the value does not take into account Donald Trump’s election victory or Musk’s new role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
It’s unlikely to effect Musk that much from a monetary standpoint, as he’s managed to dramatically increase his net worth following the US election, and has recently been rumored to be handing over $100 million in donations to Reform UK’s Nigel Farage.
Having taken X private it is unclear what the exact financial performance of the platform is, but X did boast all-time record high post numbers surrounding the US election.
Many have speculated that Musk’s purchase of Twitter was nothing to do with money though, as even the tech billionaire himself admitted at the time on the Joe Rogan Podcast that “the thing [Twitter] was way overpriced,” arguing also that “long term, I think, we can ultimately make it a win for investors.”
While it has not yet proved to be the ‘long term investment win’ that Musk predicted, it’s hard to argue against the fact that the Tesla and SpaceX owner’s acquisition for the platform played a significant role in the US election victory for the Republican party and Trump.
Musk has used his position at the head of X to support Trump’s reelection campaign (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
It remains still that Elon appears scared to some about the mass-exodus to platforms like Bluesky though, as recent changes have removed engagement numbers such as likes, reposts, quotes, and replies.
Cynically you could argue that this change is to ‘hide’ the lower number of people engaging with content on the platform, but some also believe it to be a means to combat the pushback against controversial content, as the disparity (or ‘ratio’) between likes/retweets and replies/quotes often highlighted unpopular posts.
Many are now speculating that Elon Musk is seriously worried about the Bluesky exodus after a recent feature addition to X raises eyebrows.
Elon Musk’s sporadic and often spontaneous decision making has been emblematic of his time at the helm of X (formerly Twitter) since he purchased it for $44 billion back in 2022.
Many have criticized the changes that he has brought to the platform alongside his general presence, to the point where even Grok – the AI created for use on X – has directly accused Musk of misinformation.
There have been many phoenix attempts in the wake of what many consider to be a deterioration of the platform, with alternative sites like Mastodon, cohost, and even Instagram’s own Threads showing potential.
However, none have managed to stick with users flocking back to their Twitter homes after a short while – that is, until now.
Bluesky, which was originally conceived within Twitter itself, has proven to be by far the most viable alternative for users wanting to leave X behind for good, boasting over 20 million users which includes a number of high-profile celebrities.
Some have understandably speculated that this has upset the richest man in the world, but a sudden and significant change has only further added fuel to the flame.
X iOS engineer May Ly announced on November 21 that a new feature for iPhones would allow users to “hide engagement buttons and numbers below each post,” effectively ‘hiding’ the like, reply, repost, and quote numbers which have become a key part of how the platform functions.
There have been rumors surrounding this change for quite a while now, but the sudden drop does seem to indicate that Musk might perhaps want to hide something.
The platforms owner did comment on the change himself, arguing: “It’s much cleaner with engagement numbers turned off. You can still see view count if you care.”
The ‘if you care’ does feel a little petulant in this instance, implying that engagement isn’t an important metric to consider – especially when Musk has modelled the platform’s creator payouts on these exact numbers.
It does also come as a stark contrast to Bluesky’s transparent analytics, as the new platform’s team are not only more than happy to share various milestones, but you can see a live day-by-day count of the overall user numbers, alongside total likes, posts, and follows.
This shows quite a significant trend upwards for the Twitter alternative, with a dramatic increase in growth following the US election in early November, which Musk played (and continues to play) a significant role within.
This is far from the first time that similar changes have been brought to X under Musk’s leadership, with the privatization of likes being one of the most prominent, but it likely won’t be too long before this change leaves the confines of Apple devices and launches site-wide
Remembering to change the clocks twice a year is a thing our society has been following since the start of time (literally).
For a couple of nights in the year, celebrating an extra hour of sleep in autumn or complaining about losing one in the spring.
However, the bi-yearly change has been linked to increased car crashes, heart attacks, workplace accidents and weight gain.
Now stepping in as President Donald Trump’s right-hand man, Elon Musk says he wants to put an end to daylight savings time (DST).
“Looks like people want to abolish the annoying time changes!” the Tesla CEO wrote on his social media platform X, responding to a poll suggesting public support for scrapping DST.
While Musk’s posts don’t make laws, his growing influence is hard to ignore.
As co-leader of Trump’s new budgetary advisory panel alongside Vivek Ramaswamy (who also supports the idea), Musk might just have the clout to push this through.
Kinga Krzeminska / Getty
Musk and ex-presidential candidate Ramaswamy have been assigned to head up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Despite common belief, daylight saving time in the US was never about farmers.
According to The Independent, the practice dates back centuries – to the beginning of the clock – with the Romans adjusting clocks to better align with seasonal sunlight.
Modern DST began as a fuel-saving measure during World War I, adopted by Germany in 1916 and the US in 1918.
Post-war, the rationale for DST shifted but remained on the idea that we should set our clocks to give people as much daylight as possible.
In 1966, DST was standardised across the country and businesses had a big influence on making it happen. Industries like retail and fast food pushed for it, as the longer people were out shopping and dining out, the higher the business profits.
SOPA Images / Contributor / Getty
On the other hand, others are suggesting that DST does more harm than good.
Studies show that the twice-yearly clock changes disrupt sleep patterns, mess with circadian rhythms, and even increase health risks like heart attacks by as much as 10%, said The Independent.
Musk and Ramaswamy haven’t clarified whether they’d push to end DST entirely yet.
Both options come with logistical and political hurdles, but the general idea is likely to be received well by a public tired of clock changes.
If Musk’s team decides to push for this, it could easily become one of their most popular policies – and a lot less controversial than people would expect from the billionaire.
Elon Musk issues a bizarre warning that Singapore and other countries are going ‘extinct’.
The tech mogul has been voicing his concerns about birth rates for some time now.
He has previously warned that declining birth rates is the ‘biggest problem that humanity faces’ and in reference to his large family, he joked ‘I’m doing my part’.
Elon Musk has voiced his concerns about falling birth rates (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
But yesterday (December 4), Musk took to his own social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to share his fears that entire countries could go extinct.
The billionaire reposted a tweet that read: “Singapore’s birth rate has hit rock bottom—just 0.97 kids per woman, far below the 2.1 needed to sustain a population.
“Translation? More seniors, fewer workers, and a shrinking labor force.
“From factories to food delivery, robots are stepping in where manpower is falling short.
“By 2030, nearly 1 in 4 Singaporeans will be over 65, and the support ratio has plummeted to 4 working adults per senior. In 2014, it was 6.
“The government is urging more hiring of older workers and turning to robots—Singapore has the world’s second-highest robot density—to plug the gaps.”
In response to the claims, Musk wrote: “Singapore (and many other countries) are going extinct.”
His comments on the declining birth rates in Singapore sparked a reaction from people online.
Taking to the comment section on X, one user wrote: “It really comes down to not being able to afford kids. Life is not affordable in many places.”
Elon Musk has claimed that Singapore is going extinct (ANDREY DENISYUK/Getty Images)
And another said: “People are just surviving. People need more capital to feel comfortable to start a family.”
Over on Reddit, more people shared their thoughts.
One user commented: “Birth rate does not equal population growth rate.”
A second said: “Of course Singapore as a country and jurisdiction will live on given the rate of immigration.”
A third person wrote: “Our grandparents are mostly immigrants, it will be the same for those 3 generations down.”
And a fourth person joked: “His solution is to open an office here and start f***ing his employees.”
According to The Times, Musk has been actively seeking out women who are willing to have children with him.
The news outlet reported that the SpaceX CEO will sometimes offer his sperm to women he knows.
People who claimed to have been at a dinner party thrown by Musk spoke to The Times and alleged that he had said he could give his sperm to ‘a married couple he had met socially only a handful of times’.
