Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Elon Musk: Twitter Tyrant or Trooper?

Episode Date: April 27, 2022

On Monday, Twitter leadership announced it had agreed to sell the company to Elon Musk for roughly $44 billion. But what does that mean for Twitter users? How does a company go from public to private? And will Trump live to tweet again? All this and more on today's episode.  To learn more, check out these articles: https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/25/tech/elon-musk-twitter-sale-agreement/index.html https://www.newsweek.com/twitter-going-private-what-will-it-mean-users-1700975  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Well, it doesn't. Charge for wasting our time. I will take a check. Like an old school check. You recognize her from anchoring on CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg. The only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. Nicole Lappin. Today we're going to break down a headline I'm sure you've been seeing all over the internet.

On Monday, Twitter leadership announced it had agreed to sell the company to Elon Musk for roughly $44 billion. to Elon Musk for roughly $44 billion. According to CNN, Twitter shareholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter they own. Now, Musk's Twitter takeover has important implications for Twitter users. And it's also a really interesting case study for what happens when a public company goes private. But more on that in just a minute. First, I want to answer some FAQs that I've been hearing a lot lately. The first question is, of course, why does Musk want to buy Twitter? In my opinion, and again, this is just my opinion, but I think a big motivation driving Musk's Twitter takeover is a desire to show the world that he can. Twitter is one of the most

influential social media platforms in the world. And to just declare publicly that you're going to take control of the company and then actually do it is a huge show of power. Big flex, man. Twitter may not be Musk's end goal here. He may be playing a long game and Twitter is just one move to get to the end zone. Again, this is just my opinion. On the reasoning behind this acquisition, most people are pointing to Musk's desire to see the platform adhere to looser standards of freedom of speech. On Monday, Musk said, quote, free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of

humanity are debated. Twitter has tremendous potential. I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it. End quote. I think it's safe to say that Musk has a bumpy, bumpy road ahead where this is concerned. Shelling out $44 billion is going to seem easy compared to tackling the issues of free speech on Twitter. In recent years, social media platforms have been struggling to adequately balance protecting free speech and enforcing community guidelines restricting harmful content. This issue, of course, became especially complicated in the wake of the Capitol riot when it became painfully clear how Twitter could be weaponized to incite violence. And we all remember the grand finale of this frenzy.

President Trump kicked off Twitter as well as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Removing Trump from the platform was just one of many steps that Twitter has taken to try and moderate hate speech, misinformation, harassment, and other dangerous content. But Musk's public stance on the issue has been that moderation equals censorship. And this stance makes it seem like under his leadership, Twitter will walk back some of the steps that it's taken already to limit harmful content. The proof is with no other than the Twitter tyrant himself. Musk has used Twitter to insult politicians, spread misleading information about COVID, and he's made offensive remarks about the transgender community. CNN quoted one of Musk's

tweets that read, quote, I hope even my worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means, end quote. This leads me to FAQ number two. What changes will Musk actually make to the platform? Will Musk change the Twitter icon to a Shiba Inu in honor of his beloved Doge coin? I have many questions, but only time will tell. Musk has said that he wants to, and another quote, make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans, end quote. More specifically, Newsweek reports that Musk plans on introducing an edit button that will allow people to change the composition of their tweets after publishing. This feels like

a recipe for disaster. Sure, this would help folks like me that sometimes type too fast and publish tweets with an occasional typo, but it seems like editing typos isn't what this feature will be used for. This new feature would mean that someone who tweets an endorsement of something controversial can then go back and edit that tweet and then claim the endorsement never happened. Or an online troll can harass someone and then edit their insults to compliments, which would drive me absolutely nuts. To me, this feature would be the ultimate opportunity for gaslighting, online bullying, and avoiding accountability. FAQ number three, will Trump be allowed back on Twitter? Some people have speculated that if Musk is looking to prove

that Twitter is entering this new chapter with less restrictions on free speech, he may invite Trump back on the platform, which would have huge ramifications for the upcoming 2024 presidential election in the U.S. However, Trump told Fox News that he will not be returning to the Twitter. Instead, he said he will stay on Truth, the Trump media and technology group social platform that launched in March. And finally, to question number four, and a more general one. What does it mean when a company goes from public to private? It's much more common, of course, for private companies to go public. The opposite transition is a little bit more rare and something we haven't talked about yet on the show. Newsweek reports that

taking Twitter private means that Musk will be less constrained when making comments that may impact the perception of the platform. The owners of public companies have to be much more careful because if they say something inflammatory related to the company, the share price and the company's value could plummet. Private companies don't have that issue. But this lack of constraint doesn't stop at Musk's comments about Twitter. As a private company, Musk also has more latitude to make changes to the platform without needing to factor in how it will affect the share price. To me, that means less accountability to users. We've seen the opposite play out, right? Meta, Facebook's

parent company, is a public company and we've watched as public discontent with the platform has sent the stock price plummeting. With public companies, the stock price is almost a way for investors to communicate with the company and give feedback. After an announcement from the company, a drop in stock price translates to a thumbs down from the public. A stock price increase, a thumbs up. But now, that communication channel for Twitter is gone. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. If you have thoughts on this issue and want them to be heard, I would say there's no better platform than Twitter itself. I know it's kind of meta.

Not meta as in Facebook's parent company we just talked about meta, but meta meta. If Musk values sharing opinions, he should put his money where his mouth is and show that he values those opinions. So make yours heard and tweet about it. Money Rehab is a production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Our producers are Morgan Lavoie and Mike Coscarelli. Executive producers are Nikki Etor and Will Pearson. Our mascots are Penny and Mimsy. Huge thanks to OG Money Rehab team Michelle Lanz for her development work, Catherine Law for her production and writing magic, and Brandon Dickert for his editing, engineering, and sound design. And as always, thanks to you for finally investing in yourself

so that you can get it together and get it all.