Back in 2016 I argued for a Twitter sale. Fast forward to 2021 and Twitter deplatformed me (I was suspended for 10 days with no reason / flagged TOUs violations). I now rarely use the platform. I have just under 5K followers while back in the summer of 2018 I had 32K and counting…
So Elon Musk bought 9.2% of Twatter (my favorite name for Twitter) and this past week made a non-binding offer for the company. A CEO who I know asked my opinion.
Taking Twitter private at $54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
The key issue here is whether a take-private transaction is able to unlock value or not. I seriously doubt it.
Forget that I think Twitter is a shitshow. Forget that I think Twitter is the dumpster of the ineffective, time-waster intellectual. I don’t see any value in Twitter other than in larping and getting off after a long boring day at work.
The people who voted with/for Elon, the 3 M followers, said that Elon’s taking over “will make it freer”. I doubt it, because I doubt Elon’s involvement in Twitter’s operations after he purportedly gets ownership of it. I am justified to complain about Twitter’s treatment of me on my nine years on the platform, nevertheless, I don’t see any real changes trickling down to your average user.
Still, taking- private transactions of large social media companies is largely untested. A bidding war appears to emerge:
“Thoma Bravo’s reported interest in a Twitter acquisition came the same day the social media company announced that it had adopted a “poison pill” policy that would allow shareholders to buy additional shares at a discount.”
Newsweek, 04-15-2022
No matter who ends up getting Twitter if the company sells itself, they won’t hold it for too long. What comes around, goes around.
P.S. I’m looking forward to Twatter cutting down my followers to 500 by next year.
Unless Elon buys it in which case we’ll hit 500K.