Elon Musk probably won't buy Twitter

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/elon-musk-probably-wont-buy-twitter-2022-04-27/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/Q0uCk

NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Four years ago, Elon Musk vowed to set up a peanut brittle company to take on Warren Buffett’s iconic U.S. confectioner See’s Candies. Then he changed his mind. It wouldn't be surprising if Musk's $44 billion deal to buy social network Twitter went the same way.

Sure, the Tesla boss was clearly serious about acquiring Twitter as of recently. The financing from Morgan Stanley is shored up. The agreement includes a fee of $1 billion that he – or Twitter – would have to pay if they renege on the contract. And Twitter’s lawyers even wedged in a so-called “specific performance” clause, which could theoretically force Musk to buy the company if he threatens to back out, though in practice this could probably be settled by adding to the break fee.

There are good reasons for him to get cold feet. The biggest is Tesla. The electric-vehicle maker’s stock has fallen around a fifth since Musk first revealed his stake in Twitter, partly because Musk may sell shares to fund his new adventure. If Tesla’s stock bounces back – likely if the Twitter deal falls away – the $40 billion of recouped wealth would more than make up for the break fee.

China is a major sticking point too. Tesla produces half of its vehicles there, as well as a quarter of its revenue. But Twitter is no friend to the People's Republic, most recently for defying Beijing in its handling of content related to Hong Kong protests. China could easily hold Tesla to ransom if a Musk-owned Twitter didn’t play ball. That’s uncomfortable for a self-professed “free speech absolutist.”

*snip*




I think he'll buy it and end up running it into the ground.

[marmar]

1. Is anyone else sick to death of this man?

I can't stand seeing his Michael Myers-esque visage.

[XanaDUer2]

5. YES!

I hate his name at this point. I'm trying to figure out how to trash threads on DU with his name

[Hugin]

10. Click on the...

‘MyAccount’ link in the upper right of your browser window. Go to the ‘Trash Can’ tab and enter the word ‘Musk’ in the entry box. Bingo! Gone.

You will miss out on all of the scintillating discussions of musk oil on DU. Small price to pay IMHO. ‘Elon’ might be a better choice. You may have to experiment a little to find the best filters.

[XanaDUer2]

13. Thank you

I'm over hearing about him

[Lulu Latech]

8. Yep...

His cos-play of Gotham City villainry is getting really tiresome.....

[paleotn]

23. For a long time now.

A man-baby. So much constructive could be done with that kind of wealth if the man-baby had even an ounce of gravity. I despise him and all like him.

[Meowmee]

33. Yes- he is creepy imo in addition to being pro p fascist

[Bristlecone]

2. Always was and always will be a douche.

[JohnSJ]

3. Not only will there be a lot of lawsuits against him, if he backs out of the deal he will need to

pay a good chunk of change for that.

Undoubtedly he can afford that

[JoanofArgh]

4. He's been replying to RW conspiracy theorists like Pizzagate Mike Cernovich

and Tim Pool ( Pool used to be an Occupy activist then turned hard right wing) on Twitter.

How many conservatives buy and subsidize electric cars? Very few. This could ruin Tesla in lots of ways.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

7. I think Tesla's popularity has more to do with wealth than ideology

It’s a status symbol

[JoanofArgh]

11. This is a good point.

[Hugin]

12. The Prius went through a similar phase...

Back in the day.

[paleotn]

24. Bingo.

[Azathoth]

27. So are iPhones

People don't buy products en masse because of deep commitments to long-term global sustainable energy goals.

The buy them because of social trends.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

29. I agree to a point

But I think iPhones are more ubiquitous. But the same thing applies to those $50 water bottles and high end purses.

[JI7]

35. Yes, and some non conservative men are misogynist . They might be right on many issues

but when it comes to women they are misogynist and people like Musk appeals to them.

[OAITW r.2.0]

14. Kinda weird, when you think about it.

Tesla has to want the Democratic vision of energy and transportation to succeed. Republicans support Big Oil and gas combustion technology. If Republicans were to take back the House, I would expect a full frontal attack on EV car tech. Their sponsors will demand it.

[rockfordfile]

22. Wow un-American pos like that says a lot

[2naSalit]

6. Affluenza on steroids.

[PXR-5]

9. Musk, Bezos and

that pastey looking guy that owns FB or Meta whatever it's called all look like Aliens and should all leave the planet together.

[dchill]

15. They are clearly constructs. Luckily, we can see it, for now...

...but they'll figure out the glitches soon enough.

[MontanaMama]

16. He's a tool.

A self obsessed tool. I agree with the OP that he will buy it and destroy it. He’s no different from TFG. They like breaking things.

[bullwinkle428]

18. If he does, something else will rise up, because there are too many decent

people out there that find a "Twitter-like" platform essential to their ability to share their ideas and views.

[Midnight Writer]

17. He's like Billy Mumy in The Twilight Zone. I expect him to start wishing us into the cornfield.

A character with enormous power but no maturity, no responsibility, no braking mechanism.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. The stock price argument is pretty compelling.

TWTR closed at $48 bucks today. The market doesn’t seem to think he will go through with it.

[UTUSN]

20. K&R

[cilla4progress]

21. Malignant

narcissist

[nilram]

25. Pull your accounts out of Morgan Stanley and E*Trade

on account of MS doing business with a douche bag.

[Azathoth]

26. Backing out of the deal wouldn't be good for him

The guy managed to line up 24B in financing plus another 21B cash stake -- something a lot of people were skeptical he could/would do. If he backs out now:

No one is ever going to extend him this type of credit again.

No one is ever going to trust him to provide stable leadership again.

No one is going to take any offer or proposal he makes seriously again.

He'll look like a fool which is not something his ego will suffer.

He's went all in on a troll and got his bluff called. Now he's got to play the hand to the end or get laughed away from the table.

[ShazzieB]

28. I'm confused.

I'll admit I haven't been following this closely (not really interested in that chipmunk-cheeked, obscenely wealthy douchebag, tbh), but I was under the impression he had bought Twitter, not maybe might. I feel like I've been reading posts to that effect here for the past few days, as well as posts about people pulling out of Twitter because he's supposedly about to destroy it or something.

So when I saw the headliine "Elon Musk probably won’t buy Twitter" on this post, I was like, "Wait, what?"

If he hasn't already bought it yet, that's good news, and I hope he doesn't. But if that's the case, I can't help wondering what all the excitement has been about.

I had already decided to leave my Twitter account alone for the time being. I almost never post anything there anyway. I mainly just use it to follow a few accounts I find interesting and/or amusing. I hadn't felt any need to proactively cut off my access to the stuff I like when I thought he had already bought it, and I really don't now. I realize some people's mileage may vary, and I respect that. But for now, I'm going to stick with a wait and see approach.

[WarGamer]

30. Nonsense. There's a $1B penalty if the deal falls through.

And TSLA will be fine... in fact it gained back $15/share just today.

[Polybius]

31. He already bought it

Didn't he?

[Nevilledog]

32. Still lots of stuff to go through

Sale wouldn't be finalized til closer to the end of the year.

[budkin]

34. No, the offer was only agreed to in principle

Gonna be some time until the deal closes it sounds like.