4 ms·

He intended to back out of the deal from the start, it was supposed to be an attention-grabbing stunt, and if you believe conspiracy theories there was some fin

He intended to back out of the deal from the start, it was supposed to be an attention-grabbing stunt, and if you believe conspiracy theories there was some financial upside from doing so, though I can't remember exactly what.

johannes1234321 3y ago
> if you believe conspiracy theories there was some financial upside from doing so, though Well, theoretically you could make an offer, that raises the share price to the offer and then you can cancel the offer and sell your shares fornthe high price and profit. However the SEC would investigate very carefully. Especially in the case of Musk, who has a history of stock manipulation. He'd need very good arguments. However there was something else: After his offer markets crashed to some degree. Thus he overpaid compared to what he'd have to pay, if he had made the offer a few weeks later. So maybe he only wanted to lower the price. It's likely that the initial offer came out of a rage. Just see the back and forth with him joining the board ... or not. However the key point is: He's not a poor victim who was forced to buy something he didn't want at all, but he initiated this and signed papers about it. The court just decided that he can't get out.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  > However the SEC would investigate very carefully. Especially in the case of Musk, who has a history of stock manipulation. He'd need very good arguments. Yes but his history also shows he doesn't really care what the SEC thinks and does what he wants regardless. I think this is still a pretty plausible reason.
acdha 3y ago
I think the usual rule of conspiracy theories applies: in the absence of actual evidence, go with Occam’s razor. We know Musk spends a LOT of time on Twitter and he disagreed with some of their moderation policies around issues which were catching some of his political friends such as pandemic misinformation or trans rights (especially after becoming estranged from his trans daughter). Everything we’ve seen so far fits the theory that he didn’t have a plan other than changing their policies and has been winging it ever since.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  I'm really worried about the anti-trans thing the last years. Even some of my "friends" who were really LGBTI+ friendly, are now rabid anti-trans and want them to die (literally in some cases, I'm not exaggerating). I don't get this. What are trans people doing to us? They are just going about their lives not hurting anyone. It seems to be mostly under the flag of 'for the children' and in the US it seems more religiously/GOP oriented but if you actually start a discussion and dismantle some of their talking points with actual proof (no, kids are not indoctrinated into becoming trans or gay, it's just about understanding), the actual underlying rabid hate comes out. I'm not LGBTI+ myself but I'm very good friends with many of them and I find it sickening. Leave people to be who they are. I had no idea about Musk's daughter though, that explains some of it in his view I guess.
  - johannes1234321 3y ago
    > I'm not LGBTI+ myself but I'm very good friends with many of them and I find it sickening. This is where I consider "pride month" relevant: I'm not LGBTI+ either and for large parts consider the hate a edge phenomenon on internet and in some groups and more or less forget about it. During pride month there are so many anti-gayncomments one can overhear, which to me serves as a reminder that in my bubble it's not a problem, but once you step out it's a crazy world ... (I'm outside the US)
    - wkat4242 3y ago
      I'm from the Netherlands and to me it feels like things are going backwards. When I grew up in the 80s it was all totally OK. A bit uneasy still but OK. In the 90s things improved even more. Being gay was just normal, not even special. Not that everyone was gay but it was just normal the way some people are blond and others brown-haired. It wasn't even a 'thing' anymore. It just was. But now it has definitely become a thing spurring lots of hate again. And it saddens me. We had this covered. Only trans wasn't really a thing when I was young but queerness was. I think it was more just not a thing because the medical options weren't as advanced as they are now. I think polarisation of society has played a big part in this. I think religion also plays a role as many religions frown on this. In the 90s our society was really 'done' with religion, young people were completely disconnected from it. But it has made a comeback for various reasons.
kergonath 3y ago
Well, then signing the contract and commiting to it was monumentally stupid.
o1y32 3y ago
If he backed out of the deal at the last minute and never signed his name, I might agree with you on "supposed to be an attention-grabbing stunt". The revisionist view here is mind-blowing.

johannes1234321 3y ago

> if you believe conspiracy theories there was some financial upside from doing so, though Well, theoretically you could make an offer, that raises the share price to the offer and then you can cancel the offer and sell your shares fornthe high price and profit. However the SEC would investigate very carefully. Especially in the case of Musk, who has a history of stock manipulation. He'd need very good arguments. However there was something else: After his offer markets crashed to some degree. Thus he overpaid compared to what he'd have to pay, if he had made the offer a few weeks later. So maybe he only wanted to lower the price. It's likely that the initial offer came out of a rage. Just see the back and forth with him joining the board ... or not. However the key point is: He's not a poor victim who was forced to buy something he didn't want at all, but he initiated this and signed papers about it. The court just decided that he can't get out.

wkat4242 3y ago
> However the SEC would investigate very carefully. Especially in the case of Musk, who has a history of stock manipulation. He'd need very good arguments. Yes but his history also shows he doesn't really care what the SEC thinks and does what he wants regardless. I think this is still a pretty plausible reason.

acdha 3y ago

I think the usual rule of conspiracy theories applies: in the absence of actual evidence, go with Occam’s razor. We know Musk spends a LOT of time on Twitter and he disagreed with some of their moderation policies around issues which were catching some of his political friends such as pandemic misinformation or trans rights (especially after becoming estranged from his trans daughter). Everything we’ve seen so far fits the theory that he didn’t have a plan other than changing their policies and has been winging it ever since.

wkat4242 3y ago
I'm really worried about the anti-trans thing the last years. Even some of my "friends" who were really LGBTI+ friendly, are now rabid anti-trans and want them to die (literally in some cases, I'm not exaggerating). I don't get this. What are trans people doing to us? They are just going about their lives not hurting anyone. It seems to be mostly under the flag of 'for the children' and in the US it seems more religiously/GOP oriented but if you actually start a discussion and dismantle some of their talking points with actual proof (no, kids are not indoctrinated into becoming trans or gay, it's just about understanding), the actual underlying rabid hate comes out. I'm not LGBTI+ myself but I'm very good friends with many of them and I find it sickening. Leave people to be who they are. I had no idea about Musk's daughter though, that explains some of it in his view I guess.
- johannes1234321 3y ago
  > I'm not LGBTI+ myself but I'm very good friends with many of them and I find it sickening. This is where I consider "pride month" relevant: I'm not LGBTI+ either and for large parts consider the hate a edge phenomenon on internet and in some groups and more or less forget about it. During pride month there are so many anti-gayncomments one can overhear, which to me serves as a reminder that in my bubble it's not a problem, but once you step out it's a crazy world ... (I'm outside the US)
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    I'm from the Netherlands and to me it feels like things are going backwards. When I grew up in the 80s it was all totally OK. A bit uneasy still but OK. In the 90s things improved even more. Being gay was just normal, not even special. Not that everyone was gay but it was just normal the way some people are blond and others brown-haired. It wasn't even a 'thing' anymore. It just was. But now it has definitely become a thing spurring lots of hate again. And it saddens me. We had this covered. Only trans wasn't really a thing when I was young but queerness was. I think it was more just not a thing because the medical options weren't as advanced as they are now. I think polarisation of society has played a big part in this. I think religion also plays a role as many religions frown on this. In the 90s our society was really 'done' with religion, young people were completely disconnected from it. But it has made a comeback for various reasons.

kergonath 3y ago

Well, then signing the contract and commiting to it was monumentally stupid.

o1y32 3y ago

If he backed out of the deal at the last minute and never signed his name, I might agree with you on "supposed to be an attention-grabbing stunt". The revisionist view here is mind-blowing.