Musk says owning Twitter 'painful' but needed to be done

[groundloop]

Source: ABC News

Billionaire Elon Musk has told the BBC that running Twitter has been “quite painful” but that the social media company is now roughly breaking even after he acquired it late last year.

[snip]

The interview was sometimes tense, with Musk challenging the reporter to back up assertions about rising levels of hate speech on the platform. At other times, Musk laughed at his own jokes, mentioning more than once that he wasn't the CEO but his dog Floki was.

[snip]

“It's not fun at all," Musk said. “The company's going to go bankrupt if we don't cut costs immediately. This is not a caring-uncaring situation. It’s like if the whole ship sinks, then nobody’s got a job.”

Asked if he regretted buying the company, he said it was something that “needed to be done.”



Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/musk-owning-twitter-painful-needed-98523478

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Well

at least he "disappeared" the "dog" the past couple days and brought the bird back.

[Joinfortmill]

2. It was a successful forum for democracy, that's why he had to buy it. This guy is a bad actor.

[BootinUp]

3. Genius whines? nt

[BootinUp]

4. breaking even eh? Another lie. nt

[Miguelito Loveless]

5. Well, any business can break even

if it doesn't pay its bills and stiffs its employees of severance pay.

[BootinUp]

6. We might have a quibble over that definition, but the important thing is he lies

about everything. They just eliminated twitter as a corporate entity, I am sure they made it look like it was breaking even with some accounting foo foo.

[efhmc]

14. Read any reliable source of economic news and this is branded as a lie.

It is not even close.

[Midnight Writer]

18. Paying 44 billion for a company that is "roughly breaking even" is not a genius move.

[Lovie777]

7. Countries as well as individuals are leaving.......................

[viva la]

8. His comms office responds to press inquiries with a poop emoji

He's chief douchebag there, so it has to be his decision. Hardehar. He's got the emotional level of a 9-year-old bully.

[Walleye]

9. Poor Elon, he might've found happiness if he hadn't been such a fascist prick

[Casady1]

10. Can we revoke g his citizenship

and deport him? asking for a friend.

[KPN]

28. Hear hear!

[SouthernDem4ever]

11. Asshole russian asset says what?

Twitter now sucks more than it ever did.

[electric_blue68]

12. Oh...The BURDEN! 🙄🙄🙄😑

[Farmer-Rick]

13. Musk needed to buy Twitter

In order to get GQPers elected, including Trump.

Also it brings in Putin's money and Russian trolls. All a win win for Musk. But not at all good for the remains of American democracy.

[tinrobot]

20. It was more about ego than politics for him.

I think he dangled the "$54.20" offer on a whim to make himself seem more important than Twitter. But then he realized he couldn't wiggle out of it and got stuck paying roughly double what he should have paid.

But yes, he's always been a troll who is addicted to attention. For him, owning Twitter is like an alcoholic owning the distillery. It's not going to end well.

[Johnny2X2X]

15. NPR just ditched them

Download the NPR App, they're no longer going to be using Twitter since Elmo labeled them as state run media.

[LiberalFighter]

16. Is he related to that Barbara Jean character on Reba,?

[live love laugh]

17. It needed to be done to quash free speech. Fuck him.

[tinrobot]

19. The man needs to look in the mirror for the reason the company is going bankrupt.

It's not about costs, buddy.

He overpaid for the company, fired half the staff, then enacted stupid policies that drove people and advertisers away.

The only person he needs to fire is himself. That alone would solve most of Twitter's "problems."

[sarcasmo]

21. Done means destroyed.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

22. Boo Hoo

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

23. Hope it hurts him some more.

[Martin68]

24. I don't believe a word Musk says about anything. Everything he says is self-serving. He's proved

that time and time again.

[LudwigPastorius]

25. Fuck off to Mars already.

You can use your big brain to survive.

[Javaman]

26. translation: I took something fucked it up and now I want sympathy. nt

[KPN]

27. What a dipshit!

[LiberalFighter]

29. Painful? It was doing fine before he dipped his dong in it.

[andym]

30. Failure derived from hubris comes as a surprise for folks who have succeeded so frequently

but he needs to learn that even smart folks can err.

[NullTuples]

35. That assumes driving Twitter into the ground means failure and not success

The deal never made financial sense, no matter what he planned to do.

On the other hand, destroying a major platform crucial to journalists and anti-fascist activists worldwide? Priceless.

[andym]

42. Twitter was also a tool that helped Trump get elected

He used it extensively to gain publicity. It's useful for propagandists and wannabe fascists as well anti-fascist activists.

[BootinUp]

44. This does not get mentioned enough. nt

[NullTuples]

45. True, but he may be losing luster w/ the GOP compared to DeSantis

And, this may be bigger than just American politics. Wealthy authoritarian / theocratic leaders such as the royal Saudi family would love to see Twitter disappear. Likely Putin would as well.

[sakabatou]

32. Buyers remorse, Eloon?

[littlemissmartypants]

33. If in "done" he means "stick a fork in it" he's not far off. ❤️

[NullTuples]

34. Elon: LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

[area51]

40. Yep, & that's what abusive people tend to say. n/t

[SouthernDem4ever]

36. Can we initiate a class-action lawsuit

everytime twitter knowingly allows lies considered harmful to the public?

[pecosbob]

37. When Dems take the House putting a muzzle on Twitter should be on their agenda

[2naSalit]

38. I call...

Bullshit. Like he had to shoot his mouth off making him liable for buying it and then he whines. He should have left it alone, even if he did buy it. He makes me think of andrew tate.

You broke it, stupid, now you have to own what you did.

[Kid Berwyn]

39. Some day it'll be worth a billion.

For a very short while, likely.

[Firestorm49]

41. Maybe, just maybe, he paid way to much for Twitter.

[czarjak]

43. Hurt. So. Good. MOFO!!!!!!!

[FakeNoose]

46. Did he say this before Germany fined Twitter $30 billion for uncontrolled hate speech?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217819086

"Twitter is now facing a whopping $30 billion fine in Germany"

I'm not sure when it happened but it was reported n DU just this morning.