Not a day goes by without Elon Musk revealing some details about his climb to Twitterr, taking care to keep the curiosity of Tesla's politicians, competitors and shareholders high, worried about the effects of the adventure on the electric car stock, which yesterday fell by an abundant 8 percent. But, to reassure the markets, the news arrived that Musk will not go it alone to conquer the most expensive bird in the world. On the contrary, an undertaking of no small importance at a time when the cost of money is rising and the stock markets are declining, the entrepreneur raised $7,14 billion, thereby lowering its direct commitment to buy Twitter below $20 billion.
Twitter, Musk gathers allies. That's who I am
Musk's team of allies has the appearance of a well-matched tribe: the figure of Al Waleed, the Saudi prince known for his penchant for the media, but also for his stake in Citi. His relationship with the strong man of Riyadh, Prince MBS, is not the most idyllic, given that the strong man of the realm locked him up in a hotel for weeks before releasing him after a hefty fine (or ransom) of billions. But, if the rule that a common enemy helps friendship applies, it is easy that cordial hostility towards Jeff Bezos favors an understanding between Musk and the leaders of Saudi Arabia.
Alongside Al Waleed figure Larry Ellison, the owner of Oracle, historic enemy of Bill Gates since the days of the disputes with the Antitrust which has invested a full billion. Again the mutual enmity with the founder of Microsoft may have favored the agreement: Gates and Musk seemed one step away from an agreement on philanthropy but, at the last moment, Musk realized that Gates is one of the big sellers at found out about Tesla and broke off relations.
Immediate Gates' reply: “There's nothing personal – he said – but I think Musk's entry could make things worse. What does Elon, who I can only speak well of, think about the prospect of someone saying vaccines kill people or Bill Gates tracking people? It is not entirely clear what he will do to protect people ”.
Musk looks to the right. Does he want to recover Trump?
But Musk's consortium has 17 other investors ready to share the adventure: the Chinese Changpeng Zhao, promoter of the cryptocurrency site Binance, has invested half a billion in it, the Andressen-Horowitz pair of Sequoia, the soul of Silicon Valley, 800 million. And then there are Fidelity and Brookfield, looking for profit opportunities in a dry moment for good business. There is not Peter Thiel, the guru of the right in Silicon Valley, Musk's first business partner in his PayPal days. But Thiel now deals only with politics, with the aim of identifying the right candidates for the takeover in Washington. Among these Jack Vance, winner in Ohio, former critic of Trump then admitted to the court of the former president at the request of Thiel. Isn't it, the US media ask, that behind the takeover of Twitter there is always the hand of Thiel, former discoverer of Mark Zuckenberg, for reopen the doors of Twitter to Trump for next autumn, in view of the ex-president's electoral revenge in the mid-term elections?
Possible. But certainly Musk and his associates do not conceive the idea of a business that does not bring them good profits. And here the game gets complicated. To transform Twitter, which loses money, into a profitable machine, Musk proposes to set up a sort of subscription for professional users and for those who use twitters for advertising or commercial purposes. The tweets, which may be longer, will be free or, at least, more attention will be paid to reflecting freedom of expression rather than the filter of the moderators, necessary to avoid the Wild West. But to find out more, just wait for the next episodes.
