A lot has been manufactured from Elon Musk “throwing away” $44 billion on Twitter, as the corporate’s income and utilization has continued its regular decline. However which will miss a essential component of Musk‘s pondering, and the worth that the platform truly offers for himself, and his firms.
As a result of whereas Musk would, after all, like to imagine that he’s the perfect enterprise operator on the planet, and that he could make a viable enterprise out of something, his logic behind shopping for the platform is definitely extra seeded in political affect, versus operating X itself. And that would nonetheless show to be value much more to him than the $44 billion price ticket.
The seeds for Musk’s eventual buy of Twitter can truly be traced again to this change in 2020:
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Musk has since deleted the tweet, however this publish, revealed two years earlier than Elon began shopping for up Twitter inventory, which ultimately led to his buy of the app, factors to the logic in why he sees such worth within the firm.
The tweet above is in reference to a political coup in Bolivia, which led to the ousting of then Bolivian President Evo Morales. Rumors have lengthy instructed that the U.S. was concerned within the coup, with American authorities reportedly in search of to realize management over the nation’s lithium sources, and hold it out of the fingers of Russia and China.
Bolivia has the biggest lithium reserves on the planet, and lately, demand for lithium has skyrocketed following the expansion in electrical automobile manufacturing. Which, after all, immediately hyperlinks to Tesla, and Musk’s assertion primarily factors to the truth that the Bolivian coup resulted in additional favorable lithium entry for his firms.
And the way was the Bolivian coup organized and amplified?
In keeping with The Morning Star:
“Tens of 1000’s of faux Twitter accounts had been created to help the navy coup towards Bolivia’s elected president Evo Morales, a brand new research suggests. Over 68,000 false accounts had been set as much as attempt to legitimize the military’s overthrow of Mr Morales following his re-election final month and to justify the massacres of protesters towards the coup which have adopted.”
The suggestion is that U.S. operatives primarily weaponized Twitter to gas dissent, and drive the overthrow of the nation’s elected chief.
And given his vested curiosity, Elon had a entrance row seat.
It’s this energy that woke up Musk to the potential of Twitter to sway voters, and wield monumental political affect. That’s the motivator that led to Musk shopping for the platform, and re-aligning its moderation tips round “free speech”, as a result of Musk noticed a possibility to shift political sentiment in relation to his pursuits, and finally win for his initiatives.
It’s not about defending humanity or freedom of speech or any of the opposite philosophical virtues that Musk has instructed in his varied feedback concerning the app. Musk sees Twitter, now X, as a method to stress governments to provide his firms extra favorable remedy. And that’s changing into extra evident in his varied dealings.
For instance, Elon lately opposed a Brazilian courtroom order to droop the profiles of customers who’ve continued to perpetuate the lie that the 2022 Brazilian election was “stolen,” which led to the ouster of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro was a Musk ally, and was eager to arrange favorable lithium offers for Tesla, and his election loss meant that Musk misplaced that chance. So Musk is against the present Brazilian authorities, who’re much less inclined to conform to the identical offers and circumstances.
So within the spirit of changing whoever doesn’t go together with his plans, Musk has made a present of demonstrating how corrupt Brazil’s management is, as a part of a play to swell dissent, and ideally get them voted out on the subsequent election.
Once more, it’s the very same playbook Musk noticed play out in Bolivia, however he’s now attempting to steer it himself, with the intention to derive optimum profit for his pursuits.
However Elon stated that his opposition to the Brazilian order was about upholding the legislation, and defending free speech, proper?
Properly curiously, he wasn’t as eager to make a stand towards comparable requests from authorities in Turkey, India or Germany, which every has its personal function to play in Musk’s expanded enterprise empire.
Tesla’s at the moment working in the direction of the institution of latest distribution agreements in India, which might make it a precious new marketplace for the corporate, Musk has a relationship with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, and has mentioned alternatives for each Tesla and Starlink within the area, whereas Tesla’s key European manufacturing unit is in Berlin.
Coincidentally, Musk hasn’t opposed any elimination orders from these nations which were put to X, regardless of them being just about the identical as these filed by Brazilian officers.
Musk has, nevertheless, criticized Australian authorities. Tesla has repeatedly pointed to Australian Authorities purple tape as a key obstacle to its improvement within the nation.
Musk has additionally criticized the U.Ok. Authorities. Tesla’s been lobbying for the U.Ok. authorities to lift taxes on petrol and diesel vehicles, with the intention to gas larger subsidies for electrical automobiles.
The development right here is pretty clear, Musk is trying to make use of his presence on X, and his broader affect over the platform’s algorithms, to stir dissent towards governments that he feels are in his approach.
Which, after all, additionally extends to U.S. politics.
Truthfully, I don’t suppose that Elon Musk believes even half of the issues that he posts about U.S. political points, or feels passionately about them a method or one other. But when Trump’s re-elected in November, it’s assured that Musk will get a direct line to the White Home. That’ll allow him to shake off regulatory restrictions, safe authorities subsidies, sway favorable insurance policies and extra.
A Trump victory would successfully enshrine Musk’s political affect, and you may wager that he’d then be pitching that very same help to each opposition celebration in each area the place he seems like he can achieve a bonus by comparable enter.
You need to win on the polls, you conform to easing restrictions on Musk’s initiatives, and he’ll provide the full energy of his affect on X.
Musk controls all of the algorithms, all of the methods, he can amplify and supress no matter he likes. And that’s highly effective, even when X does now have fewer customers.
So whereas Elon is seemingly shedding cash on X, and will seem like “setting hearth” to that preliminary $44 billion funding, it might truly be value considerably extra to Musk, and his firms, if he does wield the extent of affect that he thinks.
The advantages that Tesla, SpaceX, and his different initiatives might glean from adjustments in authorities insurance policies might effectively exceed that preliminary outlay, so whereas it could seem to be Musk is operating X into the bottom, the ends could finally justify the means.
