By Katelyn Lam
Elon Musk. Where do you even begin to describe the level of creativity, intelligence, power, drive and wealth Elon Musk has achieved? According to Forbes real-time billionaires list and the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk is currently the wealthiest person in the world. With an estimated net worth of 210 billion, yes billion, Elon Musk is in his own league and is changing the world at his own pace. Musk is the CEO of the electric car maker Tesla, rocker manufacturer SpaceX, founder of The Boring Company, co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI, president of Musk Foundation and new owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.
After months of speculation, lawsuits, pressure and many obstacles, Elon Musk finally purchased Twitter on Oct. 27 for forty-four billion dollars. Why did Elon Musk decide to set his sights on Twitter? Musk said that he wanted to turn Twitter into more of a private company that would allow people to speak more openly on the platform. This is a positive attribute because Twitter is known for being a platform to post toxic and misleading information. Musk also plans to give Twitter more structure by creating new leadership roles, and finding new ways to make profits and job cuts.
Additionally, Musk has now made Twitter into a private company, which allows him to have even more control. Now that the company is private, he does not have to regularly answer to any shareholders and is able to make many changes without the public knowing immediately. Musk is even planning to eliminate about 3,700 jobs to cut the costs of his private company. One problem now is that the cuts also are putting more responsibility onto a smaller select group. Before his takeover, there were hundreds of employees that could remove posts that contained hateful speech and misleading information. As of now, only about 15 people are able to do so. Whether this is positive or negative, we will see as new scandals, politics, and issues evolve.
Musk now faces challenges due to the upcoming midterm elections, especially with President Trump’s ban on Twitter. Earlier this year, Musk suggested that he would reinstate Trump’s Twitter account. This is due to his belief that the ban was a mistake because it took away Trump’s voice and even alienated a part of the country against him. As well, Brazil is electing its president this year. The eyes are now on Musk as we will soon see how Twitter changes into what he envisions.
Overall, Musk is truly dominating and making his impact on so many different platforms. He has set some extremely ambitious goals such as Twitter having an annual revenue of $26.4 billion by 2028. The world awaits to see how he is going to achieve this and some are even hoping this is his downfall. This may be his most recent purchase, but this will definitely not be his last. Elon Musk is one to watch.