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> Everything about this rebranding has been baffling to me. Everything about the purchase and the way the company has been run since Elon took the reigns has b

by lol768 3y ago

> Everything about this rebranding has been baffling to me. Everything about the purchase and the way the company has been run since Elon took the reigns has been baffling. The bizarre forced-push of the X brand is just the tip of the iceberg.

okr 3y ago
[flagged]
- lenerdenator 3y ago
  Who cares about the handbook way? Idk. Probably the people who remain at Twitter, and to a certain extent, the investing institutions that were courted to help fund the acquisition. Of course, they probably hedged, so they don't care as much, but still. This is a case study in how concentration of capital in the hands of one person can go terribly wrong for the purposes of resource allocation.
  - djbusby 3y ago
    Isn't Twitter valuation down like 60% from that purchase price? That's a tough hedge.
JeremyNT 3y ago
> Everything about the purchase and the way the company has been run since Elon took the reigns has been baffling. The bizarre forced-push of the X brand is just the tip of the iceberg. I dunno, is it that baffling? It seems like he really loved using the product but didn't like the leadership, and he just wanted to own it so he could mess around and have fun following his own whims. Once you get the idea that he doesn't actually care about financial success it all seems pretty reasonable. Like any hobby, for X/Twitter to be a "success" it just has to amuse him, and based on his usage of the platform it seems to be doing that. The amounts of money he's losing are staggering to us but also meaningless to him. Our society has allowed him to accumulate so much wealth that nothing he could do "wrong" in a business sense would meaningfully impact his lifestyle.
- NewJazz 3y ago
  If the money he is losing is meaningless to him, why has he launched lawsuits to back out of the purchase and sue media watchdog orgs? Why did he replace himself as CEO with an advertising exec? Seems like the money is pretty meaningful to him.
  - dehrmann 3y ago
    It's really just an extreme version of a boat. They seem like fun, but they're money pits, and a lot of work goes into keeping them running. Alternatively, it's the Cartmanland scenario.
  - JeremyNT 3y ago
    I imagine you're right that the lost cash does have meaning to him, but it doesn't appear to be the primary motivator for his decisions (and is definitely not driving his near-term decision making).
    - ethanbond 3y ago
      Primary motivator being insecurity and rapidly deteriorating mental health
- babypuncher 3y ago
  > Our society has allowed him to accumulate so much wealth that nothing he could do "wrong" in a business sense would meaningfully impact his lifestyle. This is the frustrating part. If I went around my office tomorrow endorsing nazi propaganda, I would be out of a job by the end of the day and probably struggling to pay my mortgage in a few months. But this fuckstick can do whatever he wants and never face any real repercussions. He could bankrupt Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla and just decide to retire early on a private island. It's so incredibly hard to actually fuck things up when you're rich that it's downright impressive when someone like SBF comes along and manages to actually do it.
  - vbezhenar 3y ago

by lol768 3y ago

okr 3y ago

[flagged]

lenerdenator 3y ago
Who cares about the handbook way? Idk. Probably the people who remain at Twitter, and to a certain extent, the investing institutions that were courted to help fund the acquisition. Of course, they probably hedged, so they don't care as much, but still. This is a case study in how concentration of capital in the hands of one person can go terribly wrong for the purposes of resource allocation.
- djbusby 3y ago
  Isn't Twitter valuation down like 60% from that purchase price? That's a tough hedge.

JeremyNT 3y ago

> Everything about the purchase and the way the company has been run since Elon took the reigns has been baffling. The bizarre forced-push of the X brand is just the tip of the iceberg. I dunno, is it that baffling? It seems like he really loved using the product but didn't like the leadership, and he just wanted to own it so he could mess around and have fun following his own whims. Once you get the idea that he doesn't actually care about financial success it all seems pretty reasonable. Like any hobby, for X/Twitter to be a "success" it just has to amuse him, and based on his usage of the platform it seems to be doing that. The amounts of money he's losing are staggering to us but also meaningless to him. Our society has allowed him to accumulate so much wealth that nothing he could do "wrong" in a business sense would meaningfully impact his lifestyle.

NewJazz 3y ago
If the money he is losing is meaningless to him, why has he launched lawsuits to back out of the purchase and sue media watchdog orgs? Why did he replace himself as CEO with an advertising exec? Seems like the money is pretty meaningful to him.
- dehrmann 3y ago
  It's really just an extreme version of a boat. They seem like fun, but they're money pits, and a lot of work goes into keeping them running. Alternatively, it's the Cartmanland scenario.
- JeremyNT 3y ago
  I imagine you're right that the lost cash does have meaning to him, but it doesn't appear to be the primary motivator for his decisions (and is definitely not driving his near-term decision making).
  - ethanbond 3y ago
    Primary motivator being insecurity and rapidly deteriorating mental health
babypuncher 3y ago
> Our society has allowed him to accumulate so much wealth that nothing he could do "wrong" in a business sense would meaningfully impact his lifestyle. This is the frustrating part. If I went around my office tomorrow endorsing nazi propaganda, I would be out of a job by the end of the day and probably struggling to pay my mortgage in a few months. But this fuckstick can do whatever he wants and never face any real repercussions. He could bankrupt Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla and just decide to retire early on a private island. It's so incredibly hard to actually fuck things up when you're rich that it's downright impressive when someone like SBF comes along and manages to actually do it.
- vbezhenar 3y ago