Sometimes you need to believe what’s in front of your eyes. If something is so obvious, then perhaps it’s just as it seems. That’s especially true with regard to Elon Musk. If we follow all of his actions, decisions, and statements with regard to Twitter, it’s as clear as can be that he has singlehandedly destroyed about $36 billion dollars of its value, by making a succession of stupid decisions, one after another. Each one has our head spinning, trying to figure out how it makes any sense. Early on some of thought there might be something we just didn’t understand, but now the picture is crystal clear.
There’s enough evidence that says he is simply an idiot and his decisions have been ill-considered and just plain stupid. They defy logic if his intent is to keep Twitter a viable service.
How does that gel with the success he’s had with Tesla and SpaceX, two companies that are clearly huge success stories?
Tesla and SpaceX have a depth of expertise that does not depend entirely on Musk for direction. With hardware his ideas take years to implement and require huge teams to execute. Over the time it takes to develop these products, there’s a filtering of any of his crazy ideas, pushback, internal discussions, etc., so that what emerges is more realistic. It has to be as it’s a product that must pass safety standards and regulations. He may exhibit the same lunacy at these companies, but it’s hidden, so we never know how outrageous or crazy his ideas may have been.
Twitter is a completely different business. It’s a software service. It doesn’t need to produce something material like a car. It’s all software service who’s functionality is ambiguous, subject to change at any time, based on his subjective decision making. He can and does make his decisions on his own without anyone pushing back, even in the middle of the night, and sometimes under the influence of drugs. Think of an idea at 2 am and see it on the site at the end of the next day. As a result, we are seeing him unvarnished and raw. without any filtration or constraints. And it’s not a pretty sight.
We are seeing the real Elon Musk who is bigoted, antisemitic, homophobic and a racist. Acting out on these beliefs is driving him more than any financial needs. Considering Musk’s influence with his communication satellites, charging infrastructure , our space program, his behavior is even more dangerous to our country and the world.
I only hope that more advertisers abandon Twitter, that Tesla sales falter, and more will abandon Twitter. In the meantime we’ve figured out who Musk is, what his beliefs are, and it’s time to move on from someone so despicable.