African Musk: Not a Fragrance

[Fitzcarraldo]

How secure is Twitter's business strategy?

Obviously Musk is going to apply his own strategy. He eliminated the board and is having massive layoffs of staff. His plans are unclear. I think this is a case of the dog catching the car.

[filghy2]

Obviously Musk is going to apply his own strategy. He eliminated the board and is having massive layoffs of staff. His plans are unclear. I think this is a case of the dog catching the car.

He did try to get out of the deal, so I guess he figured out it wasn't likely to be a winner. It doesn't say much for his business acumen that he didn't do better due diligence before making his bid.

Apart from cost-cutting, it looks like his strategy will include charging users for various things (possibly including adult video content). Good luck that. Most of the TS videos I've seen on Twitter are just teasers for their subscription sites on Only Fans, etc.
https://www.vox.com/recode/23440075/...k-verification

[Stavros]

The link Fitzcarraldo gave to Musk's partners in twitter, suggests a group of people who have become rich by taking early mover advantage in the Social Media sector that emerged after the dot.com boom ended. To them, Social Media appears to be a money-making scheme made in some Computer Geek's heaven -create a Platform 'everyone' wants to be on -or, for example, 'every young person' (this seems to be Tik-Tol at the moment), and the advertisers will flock to it with wads of cash, the partnership is sealed, and the process 'from concept to cash' is perfected. And if the Platform doesn't evolve, like MySpace, then something else will come along to replace it.

What these guys also have in common is not so much a healthy disrespect for Government, as no respect all. Deluded from their own success that they don't need Government, and with minimal attitudes to regulation of content, it is no wonder what political support they give is to people who don't believe in the legacy of 1776, and for these reasons may be part of the trend in the US which could see the Union become so fractured and dysfunctional as to have no meaning, paving the way for an end to traditional politics, and rule by 'entrepreneurs' and ultimately, a Tyrrell-style Corporation to dominate over all, but not Musk.

And you thought Blade Runner was a movie?

[Fitzcarraldo]

Apart from cost-cutting, it looks like his strategy will include charging users for various things (possibly including adult video content).

Protecting free speech ... for $8/month.

[broncofan]

I don't see how it can work. He wrote a tweet today saying he's laying people off because twitter is losing 4 million a day (I don't know how he comes to that figure). Then he said advertisers are cutting ties with twitter and it's because the media has vilified him. He's behaving like a clown and it will be interesting to see how much of the 44 billion he invested gets flushed down the toilet.

I read that it will cost about 1 billion dollars per year to meet borrowing costs for his acquisition. Operating income in 2021 was 220 million. Cash flow a bit better than that but this will be fun to watch.

[broncofan]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rashish...h=7c65243c7169

[Fitzcarraldo]

I don't see how it can work. He wrote a tweet today saying he's laying people off because twitter is losing 4 million a day (I don't know how he comes to that figure). Then he said advertisers are cutting ties with twitter and it's because the media has vilified him. He's behaving like a clown and it will be interesting to see how much of the 44 billion he invested gets flushed down the toilet.

I read that it will cost about 1 billion dollars per year to meet borrowing costs for his acquisition. Operating income in 2021 was 220 million. Cash flow a bit better than that but this will be fun to watch.

It's pretty hilarious until you think of all the Twitter employees who have lost and will lose their jobs.

[broncofan]

It's pretty hilarious until you think of all the Twitter employees who have lost and will lose their jobs.

At first I thought he was firing these people was out of spite because they had in some way undermined his vision of pure free speech. Now I see that it's part of his business strategy but I don't think it will work.

Twitter brings in a lot of ad revenue every year. You look at their operating costs every year and they are pretty significant. He figured he could keep the revenue and that all of these people he's firing are really superfluous. I think he's going to find out that's not true.

The other thing is that he is realizing he can't possibly keep his promise about free speech and he's already reneged on it. Advertisers and lots of users with a high profile will leave if he allows the type of speech he claimed he would. People are already mocking him by making obnoxious false claims about him and others as satire and it's clear if this vision of his were actually realized you'd have complete babble.

If he wants to keep his advertisers, he can't allow high profile users to disseminate false information or engage in racist incitement. The article I linked talked about how only a fraction of blue checks have to pay to keep their check mark for it to add another revenue stream. The problem is I think few people will go for it and if you take away the blue checks of people who are already verified they will leave bc you're allowing people to impersonate them.

[Stavros]

If he wants to keep his advertisers, he can't allow high profile users to disseminate false information or engage in racist incitement.

The problem is that only some advertisers will not want to be associated with Twitter under its new boss if he relaxes moderation. And more than this, are the Billionaires who support Trump and his lies and don't need Twitter anyway.

Take Peter Thiel -

"Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech financier who is among those leading the charge, once wrote, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”
Thiel is using his fortune to squelch democracy. He donated $15m to the successful Republican Ohio senatorial primary campaign of JD Vance, who alleges that the 2020 election was stolen and that Biden’s immigration policy has meant “more Democrat voters pouring into this country.” ".
America’s billionaire class is funding anti-democratic forces | Robert Reich | The Guardian

Or Doug Logan-

"“The Deep Rig” repeatedly quotes Doug Logan, the C.E.O. of Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based company that consults with clients on software security. In a voice-over, Logan warns, “If we don’t fix our election integrity now, we may no longer have a democracy.” He also suggests, without evidence, that members of the “deep state,” such as C.I.A. agents, have intentionally spread disinformation about the election."
The Big Money Behind the Big Lie | The New Yorker

And then the Claremont Institute-

"The donations flowing into Claremont illustrate that although the group’s full-throated support for Trump and fixation on election crimes may be extreme, they’re not fringe views when they have the backing of influential conservative funders. “Were it not for the patronage of billionaire conservatives and their family foundations, the Claremont Institute would likely be relegated to screaming about its anti-government agenda on the street corner,” says Kyle Herrig, president of government watchdog group Accountable.US."
Conservative Donors Bankrolled Pro-Trump Think Tank Behind Jan. 6 Lies – Rolling Stone

Having billions is not enough, they want absolute power as well. What are they afraid of? Democrats taxing them to death? Seriously?

Who cares if Twitter goes? Something else will replace it, and someone else will make billions.

[filghy2]

The problem is that only some advertisers will not want to be associated with Twitter under its new boss if he relaxes moderation.

His problem is that he can't afford to lose any of the existing revenue base. It looks like he made an impulsive decision to bid for Twitter because he wanted to pose as a free speech hero, without thinking it through.

I think IT investors are a lot like gamblers who bet on different ventures in the hope that at least one of them will be hugely profitable. Most of these investors fail, but we only hear about the ones who succeed. These people are over-confident types in the first place, and when they succeed they become convinced of their own genius, as do many other people.

Once you make a fortune the dice are heavily loaded in your favour, especially in the US. You can mostly avoid income tax, and money buys political influence and connections with other wealthy people. You can afford to have some failures, and still remain a rich and powerful celebrity. In the worst scenario for Musk he will still be filthy rich and gets to pose as a martyr to woke elites who hate free speech.