The Dumpster Fire AKA Twitter

[rightwinger]

Fortunately, CEOs aren't evaluated on the opinions of over-emotional Liberal haters.

Musk’s investors will judge him on revenue

Right now, it does not seem he can cover their investment

 

[citygator]

Or "Why Twitter was Down $10 in a Strong Up Day."

He bought the company for $44 billion. Here's the financing - Musk $24 billion in equity, Saudi Arabia (the guys who bonesawed a critic to finance the purchase of a platform by a guy who wants to give it more free speech is beyond ironic) $5 billion in equity, Larry Ellison $2 billion in equity, and $13 billion in loans from Wall Street banks. The interest payments on the loans are $1 billion a year. However, Twitter has never generated cash flow of more than $770 million.

He's got to find the cash flow someplace. That's why he's lurching around, from the incompetent firings to arguing with Stephen King over whether he'd pay $20 or $8 for a blue checkmark. Complete amateur.

And revenue isn't falling because of "woke activists." It's falling because corporations are worried about the brand value of Twitter. It's more than just trolls increasing the n-bomb 5x over the weekend. Twitter put out an innocuous statement to advertisers that things weren't going to change, then Musk retweets the retarded Paul Pelosi conspiracy theory. Who wants to be associated with a sewer? Musk's behavior has given advertisers little comfort.

Tesla was down $10 today when the Dow was up 400 points. Musk partially financed the purchase by selling $7 billion in Tesla stock. So where's the other $17 billion come from? I don't know this for certain, but I'd be willing to bet that he pledged stock in a remote vehicle and borrowed against the vehicle. Rich people do that all the time. Rather than sell the shares, they pledge their shares as collateral for a loan. It makes sense. Selling stock triggers a capital gain, interest payments can be written off against income.

Why does that matter? If Twitter is going to fail, Elon is going to have sell $17 billion worth of stock to cover his personal loan. But he hasn't pledged $17 billion. He's pledged more. Perhaps 2x that amount. Banks require a cushion above the value of the loan. So if he has pledged $34 billion, that amount is declining every day as Tesla falls. If I were a hedge fund manager, I'd be shooting against Tesla and shorting the stock all day, trying to drive it down to force the banks to sell to get back their money.

Elon should have stuck to making electronic vehicles and rockets to Mars. It's easier than running a platform.

Jesus. Good summary. I’ll be plagiarizing this. There won’t be any credit for you, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness from the Dalai Lama.

 

[Moonglow]

Musk says Twitter usage is 'at an all-time high,' but a report shows that more than 1 million accounts have been deactivated or suspended since his takeover​

Musk says Twitter usage is 'at an all-time high,' but a report shows that more than 1 million accounts have been deactivated or suspended since his takeover

Twitter's daily user growth has reportedly hit "all-time highs" amid Elon Musk's takeover drama, the FT said, citing an email sent to advertisers.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Harpy Eagle]

(Edit: Elon just let go a ton of people on the twitter staff because they were losing buku $ paying to do NOTHING, so let's see what happens in the next fiscal year.)

And then turned around and begged a bunch to come back as he got rid of people that knew how the system runs.

 

[Moonglow]

And then turned around and begged a bunch to come back as he got rid of people that knew how the system runs.

I wonder if he said "oops" at that moment he thought it was a good idea.

 

[JohnDB]

Musk says Twitter usage is 'at an all-time high,' but a report shows that more than 1 million accounts have been deactivated or suspended since his takeover​

Musk says Twitter usage is 'at an all-time high,' but a report shows that more than 1 million accounts have been deactivated or suspended since his takeover

Twitter's daily user growth has reportedly hit "all-time highs" amid Elon Musk's takeover drama, the FT said, citing an email sent to advertisers.

www.yahoo.com

Elon has long been complaining about the "sock puppets" on Twitter.
Sock puppets are where one person or group of people own hundreds to thousands of accounts to magnify an opinion that is in truth only held by a small fraction of people.

 

[Moonglow]

Elon has long been complaining about the "sock puppets" on Twitter.
Sock puppets are where one person or group of people own hundreds to thousands of accounts to magnify an opinion that is in truth only held by a small fraction of people.

Yes indeed, just like they do on USMB, next.

 

[JohnDB]

Yes indeed, just like they do on USMB, next.

If Elon can streamline and actually get rid of the sock puppets...he will have a better product to offer the advertisers...one he can charge more money for.

It's not dumb...it's brilliant.

 

[Moonglow]

If Elon can streamline and actually get rid of the sock puppets...he will have a better product to offer the advertisers...one he can charge more money for.

It's not dumb...it's brilliant.

Yeah, it's really brilliant to run off your advertisers

 

[JohnDB]

Yeah, it's really brilliant to run off your advertisers

Elon isn't...it's left wing activists threatening the advertisers.
Internet marketing is extremely low budget stuff. Pulling a couple thousand dollars worth of advertising is a nothing for most companies trying to avoid bad press. But it has a drastic affect on the number of ads displayed on the internet.

Internet marketing is like pennies per display. The more targeted ads aren't even more expensive...still just pennies. 10K of ads are like a couple hundred bucks max.

 

[bodecea]

So, ending a social media's partisan toadying to Democrats and opening up the platform to free speech isn't profitable? Elon has nine billion dollars; I think he can deal with it. (Edit: Elon just let go a ton of people on the twitter staff because they were losing buku $ paying to do NOTHING, so let's see what happens in the next fiscal year.)

"toadying to Democrats".................

 

[theHawk]

Compare that scenario to how Elon (And Calcanis, and David Sacks) actually framed their idea this week: (1) Leaked the proposal to scrap the old verification system and start charging power users $20/month for their previously-free verification badge. (2) bargained down to $8/month in a reply to Stephen Kingbecause “We need to pay the bills somehow!” (3) Insisted this was a grand populist move, describing the current setup as “Twitter’s lords and peasants system.” (4) Tweeting “you get what you pay for.” (5) Tweeting “To all complainers, please continue complaining, but it will cost $8.” (6) Retweeting David Sacks’s tweet “The entitled elite is not mad that they have to pay $8/month. They’re mad that anyone can pay $8/month.”​

This is maybe the worst imaginable way to frame the new Twitter Blue. Musk is effectively saying “hey, I spent $44 billion to own this thing, and have to come up with an extra billion per year to cover the debt payments. We’re all going to have to chip in to make this work. Don’t be cheapskates, alright?” Then he’s describing the power-users who are the platform’s most valuable asset (for free) as elitist snobs who need to start paying to keep the privileges they’ve been given.​

Predictably, this has not gone over well.​

Elon's Twitter-Tilt

Well, Elon’s first week running Twitter has gone worse than I expected.

davekarpf.substack.com

So you’d rather Twitter Blue cost up to $15k?

It is rather hilarious to see these millionaire celebs with blue check marks complain about paying $8 for their precious check mark. I guess the Biden economy is far worse than we thought.

 

[ding]

Who cares

 

[Deplorable Yankee]

Or "Why Twitter was Down $10 in a Strong Up Day."

He bought the company for $44 billion. Here's the financing - Musk $24 billion in equity, Saudi Arabia (the guys who bonesawed a critic to finance the purchase of a platform by a guy who wants to give it more free speech is beyond ironic) $5 billion in equity, Larry Ellison $2 billion in equity, and $13 billion in loans from Wall Street banks. The interest payments on the loans are $1 billion a year. However, Twitter has never generated cash flow of more than $770 million.

He's got to find the cash flow someplace. That's why he's lurching around, from the incompetent firings to arguing with Stephen King over whether he'd pay $20 or $8 for a blue checkmark. Complete amateur.

And revenue isn't falling because of "woke activists." It's falling because corporations are worried about the brand value of Twitter. It's more than just trolls increasing the n-bomb 5x over the weekend. Twitter put out an innocuous statement to advertisers that things weren't going to change, then Musk retweets the retarded Paul Pelosi conspiracy theory. Who wants to be associated with a sewer? Musk's behavior has given advertisers little comfort.

Tesla was down $10 today when the Dow was up 400 points. Musk partially financed the purchase by selling $7 billion in Tesla stock. So where's the other $17 billion come from? I don't know this for certain, but I'd be willing to bet that he pledged stock in a remote vehicle and borrowed against the vehicle. Rich people do that all the time. Rather than sell the shares, they pledge their shares as collateral for a loan. It makes sense. Selling stock triggers a capital gain, interest payments can be written off against income.

Why does that matter? If Twitter is going to fail, Elon is going to have sell $17 billion worth of stock to cover his personal loan. But he hasn't pledged $17 billion. He's pledged more. Perhaps 2x that amount. Banks require a cushion above the value of the loan. So if he has pledged $34 billion, that amount is declining every day as Tesla falls. If I were a hedge fund manager, I'd be shooting against Tesla and shorting the stock all day, trying to drive it down to force the banks to sell to get back their money.

Elon should have stuck to making electronic vehicles and rockets to Mars. It's easier than running a platform.

15 million new accounts already

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

and yet I find it concerning that the Saudis are buying up Twitter.

They've owned a piece for years.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Jesus. Good summary. I’ll be plagiarizing this. There won’t be any credit for you, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness from the Dalai Lama.

Correct the error in the title when you do.

Twitter didn't go down $10. It's not a listed stock.

 

[JoeB131]

So you’d rather Twitter Blue cost up to $15k?

It is rather hilarious to see these millionaire celebs with blue check marks complain about paying $8 for their precious check mark. I guess the Biden economy is far worse than we thought.

Or these guys just don't see the value of paying to be on something they used to be able to use for free.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Or these guys just don't see the value of paying to be on something they used to be able to use for free.

If you're a celebrity who doesn't see the value of being on Twitter, they should go.

 

[theHawk]

Or these guys just don't see the value of paying to be on something they used to be able to use for free.

They can still use it for free, dummy.

 

[Toro]

LOL