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I admire Elon Musk as a visionary and engineer. But here, I think, he is just trying to get out of the deal. The high percentage of bots was exactly the reaso

I admire Elon Musk as a visionary and engineer. But here, I think, he is just trying to get out of the deal. The high percentage of bots was exactly the reason why he wanted to buy Twitter in the first place. Because removing the bots would have been a relatively straight-forward way of increasing Twitter's valuation. IIRC he even tweeted about it. [See my clarification below in a comment]

sabertoothed 4y ago
On another note, isn't it amazing how well Twitter hides its advanced search functionality? I still don't understand if it is incompetence or deliberate.
A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
Yes, but sufficiently high amount could potentially mean lower price. So it serves as a way to keep his options open and an indication to counter-party that he could just walk away. As much as Elon annoys me, it hard for me to say he does not know what he is doing. Even the WFH tweet was timed seemingly to lower the cost of severance payments from announced 10% workforce reduction.
- sabertoothed 4y ago
  I am not saying what he is doing right now isn't rational. I think it's totally rational. He now has the chance of lowering the price or even abandoning the deal. (I just don't believe him regarding the bots. He always knew bots are a problem and likely under-reported.)
- enragedcacti 4y ago
  How does him reversing the 10% reduction days later play into the master plan? https://www.carscoops.com/2022/06/elon-musk-backtracks-on-tesla-job-cuts-says-total-workforce-will-grow/ https://www.carscoops.com/2022/06/elon-musk-backtracks-on-te...
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
    I will genuinely rather wait for more leaks of emails from the factory than try to divine the meaning behind tweets. That said, if the message is confusing then either messenger does not know what he is doing or wants the confusion. In his case, I think the latter is more likely.
specialp 4y ago
He might actually have to make this deal. I thought for a while that he had no intention of actually buying them. He just wanted to stir the pot with Twitter. He would then back out, and say something like "Taking these funds and now putting them towards a moon base to mine helium 3 operational by 2023" and people would eat it up. But I think now that it didn't work the way he planned, and now his credibility and ability to make sound judgements is being questioned by many.
HL33tibCe7 4y ago
Visionary? Maybe. Engineer? Meh. I think he's first and foremost an entrepreneur, and people overstate his engineering ability. In many cases, he shows total ignorance for the realities of engineering (see e.g: hyperloop). I suspect in those cases he is just surrounded by yes-men who don't want to tell him he's wrong. In general, I get the impression that his success over the years has been contingent on the people he has surrounded himself with. That, in itself, is a skill, though, granted.
Someone1234 4y ago
> I admire Elon Musk as a [.] engineer. Engineer? What exactly has Musk ever engineered? You could maybe argue "designer" but even that may be generous.
- scoopertrooper 4y ago
  > What exactly has Musk ever engineered? A public persona that he's now diligently working to destroy?
- _jal 4y ago
  Finance.
mrandish 4y ago
He might just be trying to reprice the deal at a lower price he now thinks is commensurate to the value. Things were necessarily rushed in the initial agreement due to leaks etc. He and his team have now had time to develop an operating plan. Keep in mind that there are several savvy hedge funds also investing in this deal and this may be driven by their concerns. There's also a possibility he'd just like to ensure the deal closes in a certain later time window. The composition of his personal wealth is complex and highly dependent on his equity holdings which have grown volatile recently.
mrandish 4y ago
He might just be trying to reprice the deal at a lower valuation he thinks is commensurate to the potential. Things were necessarily rushed in the initial agreement due to leaks etc. He and his team have now had time to develop an operating plan. Keep in mind that there are several hedge funds also co-investing in this deal and this may be driven by their concerns. There's also a possibility he'd just like to ensure the deal closes in a certain later time window. The composition of his personal wealth is complex and highly dependent on his equity holdings which have grown volatile recently.
sixQuarks 4y ago
Wow, look at the emotional anti-Elon bias in here. Just because you said you admire him as a visionary and engineer. You actually disagree with him, but just the fact that you admire him triggers people.
- sabertoothed 4y ago
  It’s sad that there is little space for nuanced, intellectual discourse. Tribalism and polarisation rule.
  - sixQuarks 4y ago
    What's sadder is that it's happening on HN, one of the last vestiges of good online intellectual discussions.
  - dubswithus 4y ago
    Sometimes dishonesty and general sleaziness overrides personal accomplishments.

sabertoothed 4y ago

On another note, isn't it amazing how well Twitter hides its advanced search functionality? I still don't understand if it is incompetence or deliberate.

A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago

Yes, but sufficiently high amount could potentially mean lower price. So it serves as a way to keep his options open and an indication to counter-party that he could just walk away. As much as Elon annoys me, it hard for me to say he does not know what he is doing. Even the WFH tweet was timed seemingly to lower the cost of severance payments from announced 10% workforce reduction.

sabertoothed 4y ago
I am not saying what he is doing right now isn't rational. I think it's totally rational. He now has the chance of lowering the price or even abandoning the deal. (I just don't believe him regarding the bots. He always knew bots are a problem and likely under-reported.)
enragedcacti 4y ago
How does him reversing the 10% reduction days later play into the master plan? https://www.carscoops.com/2022/06/elon-musk-backtracks-on-tesla-job-cuts-says-total-workforce-will-grow/ https://www.carscoops.com/2022/06/elon-musk-backtracks-on-te...
- A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
  I will genuinely rather wait for more leaks of emails from the factory than try to divine the meaning behind tweets. That said, if the message is confusing then either messenger does not know what he is doing or wants the confusion. In his case, I think the latter is more likely.

specialp 4y ago

He might actually have to make this deal. I thought for a while that he had no intention of actually buying them. He just wanted to stir the pot with Twitter. He would then back out, and say something like "Taking these funds and now putting them towards a moon base to mine helium 3 operational by 2023" and people would eat it up. But I think now that it didn't work the way he planned, and now his credibility and ability to make sound judgements is being questioned by many.

HL33tibCe7 4y ago

Visionary? Maybe. Engineer? Meh. I think he's first and foremost an entrepreneur, and people overstate his engineering ability. In many cases, he shows total ignorance for the realities of engineering (see e.g: hyperloop). I suspect in those cases he is just surrounded by yes-men who don't want to tell him he's wrong. In general, I get the impression that his success over the years has been contingent on the people he has surrounded himself with. That, in itself, is a skill, though, granted.

Someone1234 4y ago

> I admire Elon Musk as a [.] engineer. Engineer? What exactly has Musk ever engineered? You could maybe argue "designer" but even that may be generous.

scoopertrooper 4y ago
> What exactly has Musk ever engineered? A public persona that he's now diligently working to destroy?
_jal 4y ago
Finance.

mrandish 4y ago

He might just be trying to reprice the deal at a lower price he now thinks is commensurate to the value. Things were necessarily rushed in the initial agreement due to leaks etc. He and his team have now had time to develop an operating plan. Keep in mind that there are several savvy hedge funds also investing in this deal and this may be driven by their concerns. There's also a possibility he'd just like to ensure the deal closes in a certain later time window. The composition of his personal wealth is complex and highly dependent on his equity holdings which have grown volatile recently.

mrandish 4y ago

He might just be trying to reprice the deal at a lower valuation he thinks is commensurate to the potential. Things were necessarily rushed in the initial agreement due to leaks etc. He and his team have now had time to develop an operating plan. Keep in mind that there are several hedge funds also co-investing in this deal and this may be driven by their concerns. There's also a possibility he'd just like to ensure the deal closes in a certain later time window. The composition of his personal wealth is complex and highly dependent on his equity holdings which have grown volatile recently.

sixQuarks 4y ago

Wow, look at the emotional anti-Elon bias in here. Just because you said you admire him as a visionary and engineer. You actually disagree with him, but just the fact that you admire him triggers people.

sabertoothed 4y ago
It’s sad that there is little space for nuanced, intellectual discourse. Tribalism and polarisation rule.
- sixQuarks 4y ago
  What's sadder is that it's happening on HN, one of the last vestiges of good online intellectual discussions.
- dubswithus 4y ago
  Sometimes dishonesty and general sleaziness overrides personal accomplishments.