Elon Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter (now rebranded as X) for $44 billion in October last year. It was one of the biggest deals in the tech world and created a lot of speculation over how Mr Musk will run the company.
Here are some tweets that explain his first turbulent year at Twitter:
- "Let That Sink In": This was the first thing he posted after acquiring the platform. Mr Musk even attached a photo of himself entering Twitter Headquarters carrying a bathroom sink.
- Donald Trump's account reinstated: A month after owning Twitter, Elon Musk began reinstating handles that were banned in the wake of January 6 insurrection at the Capitol Hill in the US. Among them was former US President Donald Trump. Mr Musk based his decision on the responses he received on a poll he ran on the platform: "The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei."
- "Instagram makes people depressed": This tweet was posed in January 2023 in the form of a poll. Mr Musk asked his followers which platform was better, tweeting: "Instagram makes people depressed & Twitter makes people angry. Which is better?" One user replied Twitter doesn't make them angry but makes them laugh. Musk responded by saying he does laugh a lot on Twitter. He has been sparring with Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Instagram parent Meta, challenging them for a cage fight. Analysts say this is a way to increase users' interest in the platform.
- Twitter to share ad revenue with creators: In February, Mr Musk announced plan to boost advertising revenue by encouraging users to subscribe and create content to access a part of the company's profits. The announcement came amid reports that Twitter was losing $4 million a day.
- "Trying my best for the humans": Mr Musk posted this for the first time in March when a Twitter user portrayed him in a meme as the saviour of mankind. The tweet was part of changes in the algorithm of Twitter, which allowed Mr Musk's voice to be amplified.
- "Soros reminds me of Magneto": In May, Mr Musk compared investor George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain in X-Men comic books, referring to the antisemitic tropes of the alt-right. When investigative journalist Brian Krassenstein argued that "Soros, a Holocaust survivor (like Magneto), gets attacked nonstop for his good intentions" Musk suggested that Soros "hates humanity".
- "I'm up for a cage match if he is": This post came in June, when Mr Zuckerberg launched a competitor to Twitter called Threads. The Meta CEO, who practices jiu-jitsu, accepted. However, the date has not yet been decided, but the speculation is on as to who will win if such a fight takes place.
- "X goes live": Elon Musk formally announced the change of the company's logo in July. More than six months after he acquired Twitter, he merged the company into an entity called X Corp, saying Twitter is an accelerant to building an everything-app called X. He has had a superstitious obsession with the letter X since he invested in the online bank X.com. The letter features in all his companies, and is also a part of the name of his son with the artist Grimes.
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