If you thought peak drama and associated theatrics are exclusive to movies and shows, you couldn’t have been more wrong. The whole Twitter vs Musk saga is proving that real-life situations can outmatch reel-life situations. Texts exchanged between Musk and several politicians, journalists, and tech billionaires are opening a new can of worms as it gives a better picture of the behind-the-scenes of the deal. The texts also reveal Musk’s rich friends’ thoughts on how he should ‘liberate’ Twitter. An anonymous text even suggested that he should let “the boss himself” back on Twitter. Texts exchanged between Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey and Musk also suggest that the former was all for getting Musk on board the company. Read along to know more.
The What and Why
These texts were revealed to the public as a part of the lawsuit which will ultimately decide who will have the last laugh and whether Musk will have to follow through with the deal. The texts made public are from the time around which Musk made the announcement that he had bought 9 percent stock on Twitter, offered to buy the company, and backed out of the deal blaming Twitter for giving wrong data about the number of bot accounts on the platform. Twitter denied all of Musk’s allegations.
The texts exchanged between Musk and several politicians, journalists, and others throw light on their opinions and suggestions about the deal, and how the fate of Twitter would change under the leadership of Musk. Dorsey’s suggestion was that Musk takes it private. Not just that, he even put forth the idea of making Twitter a company similar to the “original sin.” Even better was Musk’s idea of asking Oprah Winfrey to join the company’s board. The texts also reveal journalist Gayle King’s efforts to get Musk to do an interview with her while several others including FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and Reid Hoffman offered to make investments in the company.
The text that attracted the most attention was from an individual whose name remains anonymous. The mysterious user first threw a reference that most agree to be taken from a right-wing publication called Revolver News which made predictions of what would happen if Musk bought Twitter. It made claims like how an “anything” goes approach to moderation would result in the people blaming the platform for the users’ bad behavior. This will be followed by a “pressure campaign,” and if that doesn’t work out, the next step will be a mass exodus of verified accounts. It even made suggestions of letting the “boss” back on the platform. Reading two and two together, the “boss” is most probably Trump. The identity of the person who wrote these texts is still unknown. Some are of the opinion that the anonymous user might be Peter Thiel or Steve Bannan or Stephen Miller.