Mike Masnick ✅Dec 27, 2022
Next time someone criticizes my coverage of Elon Musk and says something along the lines of "have you built the first successful EV company or launched rockets into space? Then you shouldn't comment!" I'm going to point out that the answer is no, but I've also never destroyed this much shareholder value in a year.
Show thread⚳ rapid unscheduled assembly ⚳Dec 27, 2022
@mmasnick It's honestly amazing how much money he's managed to lose on a $44 billion acquisition.
Show threadenmodo ⚛️ 🧬 🇺🇦 🍉Dec 28, 2022
@coregaze @mmasnick and he could have swallowed his pride and paid the $1B penalty to get out of the deal. And if he really wanted Twitter bought it for $20B or less a year later after they had done all the hard work of firing people properly. Or you know apparently he could have gotten a few of his Python guys to build a new Twitter from scratch. Right ...
Show threadMike Masnick ✅Dec 28, 2022

@enmodo @coregaze Ugh. That was NEVER an option. I don't know that myth keeps making the rounds.

The $1B was not a "walk away" penalty. He could not just pay it and get out of the deal. The deal called for "specific performance" meaning he had to complete the deal.

The $1B penalty was ONLY in the case that some OUTSIDE factor somehow killed the deal. Not Musk walking away.

Show thread⚳ rapid unscheduled assembly ⚳Dec 28, 2022

@mmasnick @enmodo Honestly, if he'd bought it and immediately sold it for what it was worth he'd only have lost 24 billion dollars, whereas... yeah, he's wiped 800 billion off of Tesla's market cap, ruined his own reputation, burned three major banks, pissed off Saudi royalty and his buddy Larry, and- as if that weren't enough- lost about $150 billion of his own net worth.

Astonishing how he's managed to unbound the downside potential of a deal by flapping his god damned stupid mouth.

Show threadBrian Swetland
@coregaze @mmasnick @enmodo I keep hoping he's going to finally help people figure out that "made a lot of money" does not actually mean somebody is smart, but thus far somehow it's proving difficult for folks to accept that Elon is a fucking moron.
Dec 28, 2022 at 7:38amWeb