Elon Musk Twitter Deal
 

I know that a lot of people think that Musk is a genius, but I don't. How could he even think that Twitter, which is just a website, was worth $44 billion? Why couldn't he just start his own website for almost nothing and compete with Twitter. He could even pay people to leave Twitter. And, why would he offer to buy the company for $44 billion and then ask Twitter to reveal information about their clients. That seems backwards to me. And, now he is being sued by Twitter for breach of contract. Didn't Musk have his lawyers prepare an ironclad contract, so that he couldn't be sued? The whole thing seems strange to me that a so-called business genius is involved in this mess. Just my opinion.

Not all wealthy people are smart. Their success is in who they hire. Elon actually bid higher than the actual valuation. He probably could have picked up “Truth Social” for a steal.

First, as one of the richest men in the world, I will respect his financial planning over any random stranger on the internet.

He did not confide in me on why he wanted Twitter, but $44B is pocket change, so it may have been nothing more than a political statement.

Twitters assets are its clients, that is what he was buying. He said that he had reason to believe they lied about actual numbers or real clients, and many of the accounts were bots. If the lied, that would invalidate the contract.

I have not idea if he is a business genius, but he has innovated several high tech fields more than anyone ever. He is the only viable launch system the US has right now, is offering a global internet to people that never had it before, is perfecting brain computer interfaces, has demonstrated a viable EV, is drilling tunnels faster and cheaper than anyone, has a new cell phone in development, and is preparing a personal robot for sale. If he feels like making a $44B political statement with his petty cash, I don’t see any reason I would want to figure out why…

I don't see any reason to be negative. This is a major current news event about which many people have provided opinions.

Elon has the Midas touch. Anyone who can go from (relative) obscurity to the richest person in the world with a net worth of 233.7 bn. doesn't have much to prove to anyone.

Musk has a degree in Engineering not Finance.

A few points:

1. TWTR is not just a website, it is method for monetizing content and advertising to large audiences with some degree of precision targeting. The barrier to entry is high and the runway to building a competitive product long. He was buying immediate access versus building his own and he was buying control of TWTR’s numerous patents.

2. There is no such thing as an ironclad contract.

3. Asking for client lists and other information from an acquisition target is standard DD once the appropriate safeguards and contracts are in place.

4. I don’t like Musk but I am not going to underestimate his ability to wiggle out of this one. He ran circles around the SEC and other entities, why should he not be able to avoid performing here?

Maybe he’s snooker them in to expose them?

Political statement is correct. He believes in FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Twitter and Facebook are one sided political and social opinion media giants. I believe he is using his wealth to attempt to even the scales so all opinions, including directional political opinions and social opinions, can be distributed equally. Good for him!

News today Musk will have his day in court Oct 2022. Options may be pay $1billion forfeiture.
Pay the agreed price $44 billion or a price between the high low price due to the drama. It will be in Delaware where these disputes are heard set for 5 day trial.

He’s being sued for trying to back out of the deal actually. Court date is in October.

Are you sure he is trying to back out? Maybe it is a negotiating ploy to get a better price. Maybe he never intended to buy. Maybe he just changed his mind, a billion penalty is pocket change. Even $45B is not going to kill him.

I am not on Twitter, so personally, I have no horse in this race and could care less. My wife is on Twitter and now hates Elon - lol!. There goes my chance to get a Tesla...

Year to date Tesla is down 38%. Which means Musk is down about $76 Billion YTD on Tesla alone. If forced to buy Twitter, expect that stock to fall even more as Musk will be forced to liquidate some of those holdings to satisfy the debt.

Twitter value
 

Twitter has substantial income and its value is derived from the same as well as the potential that it could have if managed better.
The request that he was looking for was not that of real people it was parcels built into the software and managed by people to screen and monitor the activity of those using the system.
By purchasing the company he had hopes to dismantle an left wing management and staff while replacing it with a more tolerant ideal for various opinions, thereby expanding the customer base, and increasing the revenue stream.

I think he just wanted to prove to the advertisers that Twitter is fudging the numbers and most users are just bots. So the advertisement companies will either pull back or Twitter will have to go to a subscription based pay.

Nice response

Twit is more than a "website". It influences, it manipulates, it drives economy, but most importantly it pushes propoganda the effects the world. Musk, is exposing the power of algorythms and puppet strings. Bots are a form of social warfare influencing reality. Musk being sued will open the flood gates of info on the falsehoods that is being pumped into minds by fake users and bots. Through the process of legal court proceedings ie discovery he will expose the lies and deception.

Sad though... we all know the outcome will be "sealed" but God bless him for trying!

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The price was based on the magical cannabis time of 4:20. $54.2 per share. I guess he thought $44.2 was too low.

Some have claimed that $44 billion is pocket change to Musk. I don't think so. It is actually about 20 percent of his advertised net worth. That is a lot of money to put at risk. My main point was that it would seem to be less expensive and less risky to compete with Twitter rather than to buy it.

Obviously you missed that I was "joking" about pocket change. But, at 20% he can certainly afford it. He lives in a tiny modular home, drives cars he makes. So, think of it like you paid cash for a house that amounted to 20% of your portfolio. You could certainly afford that.

As to whether he was a good investment or not, again, I will defer to the guy that is the richest man in the world over some random stranger on the internet.

And SOMEONE pointed out ANYONE can become the richest man in the world - LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! OMG, that is about the funny comment I have ever read on TOTV.

I don’t believe he was ever going to pay the amount you mentioned. Always he was looking for a much lower purchase price. Too he never trusted the 5% claim that Twitter stated so naturally this was headed for a much lower settlement price. Should be fun watching the lawyers decide this one.

I agree that he overpaid. But he does things his way. This time his exit strategy may not have been developed fully.

You are absolutely wright. Time will tell

Twitter is not a website.

it’s not easy starting a social platform. This is why Mush wanted it. He thought the value was there until he looked under the covers and found that Twitter didn’t represent their user base truthfully.

Musk
 

Al kaline thought that no baseball player was worth 100000 ,now peeple are getting a couple hundred mill (inflation)

Company valuations are based on a few things in general, cash flow Twitter was $5 billion a year. Yearly growth, and the obstacles to get into the same business, Twitter as one of the largest social media companies may not have had a huge obstacle but as you found with Trump's business and Al Jazeera are very hard to actually gain traction

If anyone loses and has to pay $1 billion dollars maybe he is really smart because the Twitter value is now 50% of what it was last year and he can start a new takeover and save 20 billion

And maybe he just wanted to punish the Twitter board of directors

He suffers from King syndrome he is so rich and fathers so many children that he is above us all. Money does not equal class or dignity. We all need a moral code maga rich more so. Not a fan.

Elon musk only put up 5% of the $44 billion, the banks are putting up the rest so he put up about two and a half billion out of his assets, so I would say that's like you or me buying a car for 1,000 down that's worth $45,000, wouldn't you consider that pocket change???

For sure he's no Warren Buffett

Fans are the gullible ones. Watching a kids game at overinflated price.

Agree, he pays more taxes than his secretary…..

Remember, Tesla is what it is today because our government bailed him out to get the company up and running. He may be a "genius" with innovative ideas but I don't think he is a financial genius!

No, not if he borrowed the money from the banks and needs to pay it back.

Facebook is just a website

I haven't looked lately, but as far as I know he paid back any loans he got. Same as GM, shall we compare growth rates between Tesla and GM?

Elon's trajectory
 

Elon was my hero for a long time. But then, hubris started creeping in to his persona. He decided he was so rich that certain laws (such as the covid regulations in CA) didn't apply to him. He ****ed all over the SEC which thankfully regulates our stock market. Now every time we see him he is dancing and prancing on stage like a Broadway queen with a stupid grin on his face. The whole thing with Twitter is indicative of poor planning and a super-inflated ego. And he is slowly thinking he can effect American politics, God forbid. He needs to take some lessons from Warren Buffett.

Why not? l seriously. Companies borrow money for expanion, development, etc all the time because it is cheap money. Oil companies are not drilling in the US right now because the banks that finance drilling took a beating last time they went on a drilling spree. Borrowing money is a fine old fashion financial strategy. If borrowing is cheap than taking cash out of something else it is a good idea.

So, now everyone can explain why it was a bad idea for Musk, because everyone else understands the intimate details of his holdings.

Why should Twitter or Facebook affecting politics be any different than Musk? Musk seems to be for free speech at least.