7 ms·

It’s important to also note that one of Musks strengths is marketing. He makes bold claims that makes headlines. We should be all used to his charade by now.

It’s important to also note that one of Musks strengths is marketing. He makes bold claims that makes headlines. We should be all used to his charade by now. A lot of the stuff he claims that actually works has teams of people supporting him. Those weren’t one man efforts like this.

espadrine 4y ago
> one of Musks strengths is marketing I don’t deny that, but it is not what he is doing here. I am not sure why people shy away from the obvious: another of Musk’s strengths is market manipulation. On 4 April, the announcement[0] of his becoming the largest shareholder jumped his Twitter stock[1] from a 73486938×33.03 = $2.4B purchase to a $3.7B asset, a $1.2B gain. He sold 371900 stocks, for a $6M gain. His 14 April announcement[2] of his offer to purchase Twitter was likely intended to boost the price further before the expected poison pill would justify him divesting everything as he stated he would do in the SEC filing[3], thus netting an even bigger gain. It didn’t boost as he expected, but the value has remained higher than it started at. He will still make half a billion and his actions, this time, are hard to sue, since he did not lie on anything but intent, which is impossible to prove. [0]: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/04/twitter-shares-soar-more-than-25percent-after-elon-musk-takes-9percent-stake-in-social-media-company.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/04/twitter-shares-soar-more-tha... [1]: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000110465922041911/tm2211482d1_sc13g.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000110465922... [2]: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1514564966564651008 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1514564966564651008 [3]: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001418091/000110465922045641/tm2212748d1_sc13da.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001418091/000110465...
- moonbooth 4y ago
  > On 4 April, the announcement of his becoming the largest shareholder jumped his Twitter stock[0] from a $2.9B purchase to a $3.7B asset, a $779K gain. You mean a $779m gain
  - espadrine 4y ago
    Yes, sorry. I also updated the information, since I found the SEC purchase filing, which indicates a much bigger gain.
- chalst 4y ago
  > He will still make half a billion These paper profits are hard for him to realise, since he has to sell 9.2% of Twitter's stock without the price falling. Given the current price depends on his claimed intent to takeover, the market will react swiftly to any evidence that he is in fact reducing his stake.
  - aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
    > Given the current price depends on his claimed intent to takeover Does it? Others have argued there has been no effective "pricing in" of this "intent", due to...nobody thinking it'll happen.
    - chalst 4y ago
      How do these others explain the bump in stock price that occurred when news of Musk's stake was published?
- ckdarby 4y ago
  Now uses the proceeds of profiting to build a competitor
dm319 4y ago
I would upvote this as insightful if we were still on Slashdot. These one-man pioneers like to further the impression that they are the sole reasons for their success, but the reality is that we all build on the shoulders if giants. I am not shitting on his ability to make his endeavours successful - I am just saying that the proportion of his responsibility for it is much lower than most people think. I'm not sure what it is about some societies that like to make a single person out to be an idol. We see it in team sports, scientists who work in large teams, businesses where CEOs are deemed several thousand times more of a factor than other workers, medicine where doctors are placed on pedestals. I guess people like a hero, and the alternative explanation, that hundreds of hard working and bright people came together to make something happen, is less compelling.
- andrepd 4y ago
  I would also mod your comment insightful ;) Egocentric individualism makes people forget that everyone, absolutely everyone, is indebted to people past and present, from his current fellow co-inhabitants of earth to the past generations all over the world that bequeathed him the world and the culture he inherited.
- newbamboo 4y ago
  Ad hom is pushed by the media because “small minds talk about people,” and that sells ads/clicks. Another example beyond personal fanboyism is the vilification of a person which surpasses rationality. Or the vilification of other groups of people. In all of these you will see fundamental attribution error, ignoring the situational factors and placing all perceived agency on the individual, like most all of our media were doing from 2016-2020. The reality is, few humans are all that important in and of themselves, and those that are often have become so as the result of external factors like the quality of the people that surround them, or “luck.”
  - _qzu4 4y ago
    > small minds talk about people This rings so true for Elon Musk fanboys. I also like the full quote, "Small minds talk about people. Average minds talk about events. Great minds talk about ideas."
andrepd 4y ago
Not "one of", by far the most important one. Just look at his totally fully autonomous autopilot(TM), coming ~2014~ ~2016~ ~2017~ ~2018~ ~in 6 months~ any day now this time I swear.
memish 4y ago
I see Tesla cars all over the place. I saw rockets take off from SpaceX. What charade? Also he often publicly thanks, congratulates and credits the Tesla and SpaceX teams. Here's a sample: https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3A%40elonmusk%20%22team%22&src=typed_query https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3A%40elonmusk%20%22team%22... As you can see yourself, he's saying "great job team!" not "great job me!". I just don't get all these olympic level contortions around denying the achievements of an immigrant who made good on the American dream, and has done more for climate change than literally anyone. This is to be celebrated and embraced!
- JaimeThompson 4y ago
  FSD, Starlink never being jammed in Ukraine, Tesla Solar Roofs, and other such things are all things Musk has hyped up that are somewhat counter factual. Why does it matter where he came from?
  - ehvatum 4y ago
    Because he’s an immigrant that made good on the American dream. That’s a powerful thing - some might even dare say, inspiring. I realize he’s white, so it doesn’t count, but it should.
    - JaimeThompson 4y ago
      Very interesting editing to your original post, when making such drastic edits that change the tone as much as you did it would be useful to make note of them so everyone knows. You asked about things he had said/promoted, or something like that, which I listed in the first sentence of my response, care to respond to them?
    - orestarod 4y ago
      He was a RICH immigrant that made good on the American Dream. Having a truckload of money ready for you before you venture out in the world would be inspiring for anyone, believe me.
jollybean 4y ago
You're missing a couple of points: 1) It's not a Trumpian charade because many of the things he says actually work out. He'd already be done otherwise. That's what makes it so interesting. I suggest he would buy Twitter if he could - and - he benefits from the free PR either way. Yes, it's a bit cynical of him, but the PR is worth it, and, it's not like he's playing with election outcomes, or starting wars. 2) We know he's not 'doing it himself' and I suggest his Eng. knowledge is way overstated, at the same time he is very 'detail / hands on / insightful at that level' and with the big vision stuff he gets people motivated. I disagree with almost everything he says publicly and loathe is fanboys, but he still deserves enormous credit.

espadrine 4y ago

> one of Musks strengths is marketing I don’t deny that, but it is not what he is doing here. I am not sure why people shy away from the obvious: another of Musk’s strengths is market manipulation. On 4 April, the announcement[0] of his becoming the largest shareholder jumped his Twitter stock[1] from a 73486938×33.03 = $2.4B purchase to a $3.7B asset, a $1.2B gain. He sold 371900 stocks, for a $6M gain. His 14 April announcement[2] of his offer to purchase Twitter was likely intended to boost the price further before the expected poison pill would justify him divesting everything as he stated he would do in the SEC filing[3], thus netting an even bigger gain. It didn’t boost as he expected, but the value has remained higher than it started at. He will still make half a billion and his actions, this time, are hard to sue, since he did not lie on anything but intent, which is impossible to prove. [0]: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/04/twitter-shares-soar-more-than-25percent-after-elon-musk-takes-9percent-stake-in-social-media-company.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/04/twitter-shares-soar-more-tha... [1]: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000110465922041911/tm2211482d1_sc13g.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000110465922... [2]: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1514564966564651008 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1514564966564651008 [3]: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001418091/000110465922045641/tm2212748d1_sc13da.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001418091/000110465...

moonbooth 4y ago
> On 4 April, the announcement of his becoming the largest shareholder jumped his Twitter stock[0] from a $2.9B purchase to a $3.7B asset, a $779K gain. You mean a $779m gain
- espadrine 4y ago
  Yes, sorry. I also updated the information, since I found the SEC purchase filing, which indicates a much bigger gain.
chalst 4y ago
> He will still make half a billion These paper profits are hard for him to realise, since he has to sell 9.2% of Twitter's stock without the price falling. Given the current price depends on his claimed intent to takeover, the market will react swiftly to any evidence that he is in fact reducing his stake.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
  > Given the current price depends on his claimed intent to takeover Does it? Others have argued there has been no effective "pricing in" of this "intent", due to...nobody thinking it'll happen.
  - chalst 4y ago
    How do these others explain the bump in stock price that occurred when news of Musk's stake was published?
ckdarby 4y ago
Now uses the proceeds of profiting to build a competitor

dm319 4y ago

I would upvote this as insightful if we were still on Slashdot. These one-man pioneers like to further the impression that they are the sole reasons for their success, but the reality is that we all build on the shoulders if giants. I am not shitting on his ability to make his endeavours successful - I am just saying that the proportion of his responsibility for it is much lower than most people think. I'm not sure what it is about some societies that like to make a single person out to be an idol. We see it in team sports, scientists who work in large teams, businesses where CEOs are deemed several thousand times more of a factor than other workers, medicine where doctors are placed on pedestals. I guess people like a hero, and the alternative explanation, that hundreds of hard working and bright people came together to make something happen, is less compelling.

andrepd 4y ago
I would also mod your comment insightful ;) Egocentric individualism makes people forget that everyone, absolutely everyone, is indebted to people past and present, from his current fellow co-inhabitants of earth to the past generations all over the world that bequeathed him the world and the culture he inherited.
newbamboo 4y ago
Ad hom is pushed by the media because “small minds talk about people,” and that sells ads/clicks. Another example beyond personal fanboyism is the vilification of a person which surpasses rationality. Or the vilification of other groups of people. In all of these you will see fundamental attribution error, ignoring the situational factors and placing all perceived agency on the individual, like most all of our media were doing from 2016-2020. The reality is, few humans are all that important in and of themselves, and those that are often have become so as the result of external factors like the quality of the people that surround them, or “luck.”
- _qzu4 4y ago
  > small minds talk about people This rings so true for Elon Musk fanboys. I also like the full quote, "Small minds talk about people. Average minds talk about events. Great minds talk about ideas."

andrepd 4y ago

Not "one of", by far the most important one. Just look at his totally fully autonomous autopilot(TM), coming ~2014~ ~2016~ ~2017~ ~2018~ ~in 6 months~ any day now this time I swear.

memish 4y ago

I see Tesla cars all over the place. I saw rockets take off from SpaceX. What charade? Also he often publicly thanks, congratulates and credits the Tesla and SpaceX teams. Here's a sample: https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3A%40elonmusk%20%22team%22&src=typed_query https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3A%40elonmusk%20%22team%22... As you can see yourself, he's saying "great job team!" not "great job me!". I just don't get all these olympic level contortions around denying the achievements of an immigrant who made good on the American dream, and has done more for climate change than literally anyone. This is to be celebrated and embraced!

JaimeThompson 4y ago
FSD, Starlink never being jammed in Ukraine, Tesla Solar Roofs, and other such things are all things Musk has hyped up that are somewhat counter factual. Why does it matter where he came from?
- ehvatum 4y ago
  Because he’s an immigrant that made good on the American dream. That’s a powerful thing - some might even dare say, inspiring. I realize he’s white, so it doesn’t count, but it should.
  - JaimeThompson 4y ago
    Very interesting editing to your original post, when making such drastic edits that change the tone as much as you did it would be useful to make note of them so everyone knows. You asked about things he had said/promoted, or something like that, which I listed in the first sentence of my response, care to respond to them?
  - orestarod 4y ago
    He was a RICH immigrant that made good on the American Dream. Having a truckload of money ready for you before you venture out in the world would be inspiring for anyone, believe me.

jollybean 4y ago

You're missing a couple of points: 1) It's not a Trumpian charade because many of the things he says actually work out. He'd already be done otherwise. That's what makes it so interesting. I suggest he would buy Twitter if he could - and - he benefits from the free PR either way. Yes, it's a bit cynical of him, but the PR is worth it, and, it's not like he's playing with election outcomes, or starting wars. 2) We know he's not 'doing it himself' and I suggest his Eng. knowledge is way overstated, at the same time he is very 'detail / hands on / insightful at that level' and with the big vision stuff he gets people motivated. I disagree with almost everything he says publicly and loathe is fanboys, but he still deserves enormous credit.