Are you wondering why Elon Musk is getting so much hate on Twitter? The reason stems from his recent purchase of the social media platform, and it will likely affect how you view Musk as a CEO and person.
In this article, we’ll explain exactly why he’s getting so much hate, and what he should do to fix it in the future!
Why are people so upset about this?
First, it’s important to understand why people are upset about Elon Musk buying Twitter. People have a bad taste in their mouths when they think of what he did with SolarCity and his electric car company Tesla Motors. Both companies were on shaky ground financially, but he managed to keep them afloat by getting one or two very large government contracts. Also, there is concern that he might do something similar with his rocket company SpaceX, although there hasn’t been any indication that is happening yet.
Of course, it’s also because of his personality. Elon Musk is known to be abrasive and rude, but most people can put up with that in small doses. For example, SpaceX is getting ready to launch its new rocket Falcon Heavy sometime later in 2018 and they’re probably going to get a lot of press coverage out of it. Even if you hate him, you have to admit he’s good at self-promotion. But when it comes to dealing with people on a more personal level (such as employees), he really doesn’t have much skill there.
In all honesty, it is kind of hilarious to watch Elon Musk try to be a good guy. He wants so badly to be liked and respected by everyone, but it just doesn’t work when you treat everyone around you like they’re below you. People don’t want someone who is full of themselves running a social media platform. They especially don’t want him if he doesn’t have any plans to actually utilize it in any way that benefits anyone other than himself.
The only reason anyone is upset about Elon Musk buying Twitter is because of his personality. If he could just tone down his egocentric attitude a little bit, then most people would probably be fine with it. This was a genius business move on his part if nothing else, but he’s just rubbing everyone wrong by being a loudmouthed jerk and they can’t stand to watch it happen.
What does it mean for Twitter users?
If you’re a Twitter user, you should know that, if Elon Musk buys and runs Twitter like his other companies, it will be bad. Not because he’s buying it, but because as we’ve seen with Tesla and SpaceX, when Elon buys something—anything—he gets rid of every person who is running or working at that company in favour of his own ideas. As an example: take a look at what happened to Tesla after Elon took over from Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Before they left (remember: Elon forced them out), Tesla had a hugely successful Roadster launch. There was hype all over media outlets about how amazing it was.
Now, fast forward to today. Since Elon took over, he’s been slowly replacing (read: firing) anybody who doesn’t agree with him or isn’t as enthusiastic about his decisions as he is. He fired people for disagreeing with him during product decisions and about how to run his company in a way that would be sustainable long-term (while also short-term profits). These weren’t just minor disagreements either—they were fundamental differences in philosophy, which caused many of these employees to leave of their own accord after they felt they weren’t being heard. It’s no wonder that a huge number of Tesla engineers have left or are planning on leaving soon.
The bigger point here is that even though you may be excited to have Elon Musk run your favourite company, please realize that he will be completely changing it into his own image. When he becomes your CEO, I don’t think anybody could say with a straight face that their favourite company has remained unchanged since Elon took over. You might say: But it’s all for a good cause! and that may be true… but at what cost? Many of these people who were fired or otherwise forced out had devoted themselves to those companies, many of them dedicating years of their lives to working on them. They loved those companies and poured their blood, sweat and tears into making them successful.
I’m sure there will be a lot of people who say: But it’s Elon Musk, he knows what he’s doing! If I had his money I’d probably do exactly what he does! and that might be true… but if you’re going to give him your hard-earned money and time, don’t forget one thing: you have a choice. You can choose to support him or not. That choice is yours, but please understand all of these consequences before making your decision. Don’t let yourself get blinded by fanboyism. Think about why Elon is doing everything he’s doing and whether or not it will work out in your favour.
Where does this leave Square?
A large number of people are questioning where Square is going after today’s acquisition. Musk is a highly respected innovator and businessman, so his move to acquire Twitter is not surprising. But what does it mean for Square? Will it join forces with Tesla? Will it create a car that can Tweet about its passengers? Or maybe, just maybe, will we finally get some more Star Wars in our lives? Maybe Musk has plans to use his artificial intelligence expertise to bring Yoda back to life! We’ll have to wait and see how things unfold over time. For now, though, I think we can all agree on one thing: Elon Musk definitely has big plans in store for us—so stay tuned!
Square was founded by Jack Dorsey, who also created Twitter. It’s a payment processing platform that allows businesses to accept credit card payments with only one device, regardless of whether or not they have an internet connection. It has become a huge name in Silicon Valley and is often ranked as one of the most innovative startups in America. The company was valued at over $6 billion last year, which means it might be hard to find a new owner willing to match that valuation—but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
Where does Square go from here? Now that it’s part of Tesla, there’s a good chance we could see some exciting new features in future Teslas. And you can probably expect to see more from Square as well. There are already rumours swirling around about their plans to release a small square device that would allow online payments through your mobile phone—so be sure to stay tuned on those! As for Yoda, well maybe Elon Musk has something special up his sleeve after all…we just have to wait and see.
Conclusion
Elon Musk is getting a lot of hate on social media today after it was revealed that he bought and quickly unfollowed Twitter (TWTR). And while some are saying that Elon did exactly what he set out to do—buy a site so he could then immediately cut off its revenue stream—I have to agree with many others who see it as an irresponsible act. The reason I’m calling Elon irresponsible is simple: When you spend millions of dollars on something, you should do everything in your power to make sure you’re actually making money back. No one knows that better than Elon, who has been able to turn his other companies into huge successes.
For example, back in 2008, Elon was able to acquire Tesla Motors (TSLA) for just $8 million. Today, that same company is worth more than $51 billion. And just a few months ago, he bought SolarCity (SCTY) for a fraction of what it’s worth today—and has since then seen that value increase even further. Sure, he’s spent a lot of money over the years on his many ventures—many of which have failed—but he always seems to find ways to make it back and grow his wealth while doing so.
And I’m not saying that Elon is off to a bad start with TWTR. He might have bought it and gotten rid of it today, but he could also keep an eye on it in order to see how its stock is performing. If he thought things were going well, he could always come back and buy more shares—and even turn it into a long-term investment vehicle. But if things didn’t look good, then why would he want to commit millions of dollars when there are so many other businesses out there? At least with his other companies, he actually has the experience and an understanding of what they can do.
In fact, it seems like Elon has already started to lose faith in TWTR’s potential. After all, when you buy shares and then immediately unfollow your company on Twitter, it doesn’t seem like you think it has much of a future. Maybe he thought that by doing so he would push people to invest in it before he buys more shares and make them even more money. But when you consider how cheap he bought his shares—and how quickly he followed and unfollowed—it just seems like a quick ploy for money. I hope I’m wrong about that, but Elon has always seemed smart to me—and these actions don’t show him at his best right now.
