Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[crazy canuck]

What orthodoxy do you have in mind?

[grumbler]

What orthodoxy do you have in mind?

I think he is referring to the right-wing orthodoxy that all reactions from "many on the left" cannot be intellectually honest, and must instead be "what you get when the orthodoxy and dogmas are being challenged."

[DGuller]

I wonder whether this deal will fall through just for monetary reasons.  When Musk made his bid, the Twitter stock must've been worth much more than it would be worth today.  His bid offer sure seems to contain a lot more premium today than it did a month ago.

[The Larch]

Musk sends Twitter CEO poo emoji as relations go down the toilet
After Parag Agrawal offers detailed explanation of spam accounts, Musk replies with image

Elon Musk's relationship with Twitter's management has reached a new low after the social media company's would-be-owner tweeted a poo emoji at the platform's chief executive.

The Tesla CEO was responding on Monday to a lengthy and nuanced thread posted by his Twitter counterpart, Parag Agrawal, explaining the company's policy on spam accounts – an issue that had prompted Musk to announce on Friday that he was putting the $44bn (£36bn) deal on hold. Musk has disputed Twitter's assertion that less than 5% of its users are fake or spam accounts and has said he will carry out his own audit.

Agrawal explained that tackling automated spam accounts was a "dynamic" process that required fighting "sophisticated and hard to catch" actors. He added that some accounts that appear to be spam are in fact operated by real people.

"The hard challenge is that many accounts which look fake superficially are actually real people. And some of the spam accounts which are actually the most dangerous – and cause the most harm to our users – can look totally legitimate on the surface," he wrote. He added that estimating Twitter's fake account numbers could not be done externally because the process required access to sensitive data such as IP addresses and phone numbers.

Agrawal ended the thread with a link to a company blogpost on spam accounts, while revealing that Twitter had discussed how it estimated its spam number with Musk a week ago and that the company looked forward "to continuing the conversation with him".

Musk responded with a poo emoji, followed minutes later by asking how advertisers on Twitter knew what they were getting for their money.

"So how do advertisers know what they're getting for their money? This is fundamental to the financial health of Twitter," he tweeted.

On Saturday Musk tweeted that Twitter's legal team had accused him of violating a non-disclosure agreement by revealing that the sample size for the social media platform's checks on automated users was 100. Last month, Musk engaged with tweets criticizing Twitter employees, despite the entrepreneur agreeing not to "disparage" the company or its representatives while he completes the deal to acquire the social media platform.

Musk's behavior has prompted speculation that he is laying the groundwork to reprice the deal or walk away from it, which would carry the cost of a $1bn break fee for the world's richest man. Some experts doubt whether the multibillionaire is serious about buying the company.

"I honestly don't know if Elon wants to buy Twitter," said Drew Pascarella, a senior lecturer on finance at Cornell University. "At first, I thought he wasn't serious. Then he paired with banks and financiers and came up with a legitimate acquisition plan. Now he's called a timeout about an issue that is both well known and should have no bearing on his future plan for the company. If it's attention he's seeking, he has it. But does he want to own Twitter? Did he ever?"

[HisMajestyBOB]

He's Trump but with less maturity.

[grumbler]

He's Trump but with less maturity.

But with areas where is really is competent.

[The Larch]

Musk, apparently not a fan of working from home:

Elon Musk tells employees to return to office or 'pretend to work' elsewhere
Neither Musk nor Tesla confirmed he sent memo with remark but the CEO tweeted: 'They should pretend to work somewhere else'

Elon Musk, the Tesla chief executive, has asked employees to return to the office or "pretend to work somewhere else", according to a memo sent to staff.

About 30% of US office workers are still working from home, according to Nick Bloom, a Stanford economics professor and co-founder of Working from Home Research Project. Many companies are moving to a hybrid work model where staff will come in two or three days a week.

But the world's richest man has apparently soured on the idea of his executives working from home. In a memo headlined "Remote work is no longer acceptble" [sic], Musk wrote that "anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers."

Neither Musk nor Tesla have confirmed that he sent the memo but in a reply to a Twitter follower asking for "��additional comment to people who think coming into work is an antiquated concept", Musk wrote: "They should pretend to work somewhere else."

In the memo Musk said he would "review and approve" any cases where staff could not meet the minimum.

Tesla joins a wave of companies mandating a return to office for employees. While some big employers have embraced voluntary work-from-home policies permanently, others including Alphabet's Google are betting that it is best to push in-person interactions among colleagues.

The news comes as Musk continues to pursue a takeover of Twitter, whose San Francisco office, he has suggested, could be turned into a "homeless shelter since no one show up anyway".

The Twitter chief executive, Parag Agrawal, tweeted in March that Twitter offices would be reopening but employees could still work from home if they wanted to.

"Wherever you feel most productive and creative is where you will work and that includes working from home full-time forever," Agrawal said in a tweet.

[Jacob]

The thread title continues to be apt.

[Berkut]

Nokidding.

He has like the narrowest expertise, and in every other area he is just grossly inept.

[Jacob]

Nokidding.

He has like the narrowest expertise, and in every other area he is just grossly inept.

I guess Tesla pays well in salary and stock options that they can afford to be dicks to their talent. Maybe get a bit of a "true believer" thing going. But personally I wouldn't bet on it.

[HVC]

He's already lost some top executives over the last few years. Reasons why can be anything, but big earners are willing to leave.

[The Larch]

BREAKING: Elon Musk is threatening to end his $44 billion agreement to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about spam bot accounts.

[alfred russel]

He's Trump but with less maturity.

Trump was an immigrant who founded companies like spacex and tesla? and with something of a commitment to solving problems like climate change?

[HVC]

Trump was a con man who became president. Both have their unexpected talents. Both are immature vindictive assholes who should stay away from social media (and perhaps society in general)

[Jacob]

Move to Mars already, Elon. Get out of here.