Elon Musk snaps up $3bn Twitter stake

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...ured-tweet-experts-predict-hes-going-to-lose/

Click-bait title, right? I mean, it starts this whole process of "no, this guy is made of actual Teflon like some other rich-like folk out there who will remain nameless" etc. For once, ONCE, pls. let something stick to this guy.

 

I remember this tweet. After this, Tesla's stock took off like a rocket, from $400 dollar to $2800 dollar, I could have made at least half a million, but this weird spike came out of nothing. I do think Musk should be punished for tweeting such nonsense. I wonder if this stuff made him wanting to buy Twitter.

 

Wow. Twitter is being sued in the US also, for nonpayment of rent for its headquarters. It missed payments for December and January. Acc. to Ars, it owes around 7 million US dollars in back rent. So far. Came across this on my Twit feed.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...ions-in-unpaid-rent-at-firms-us-headquarters/

 

I'm such a purveyor of semi-useless info.

Elon Musk has changed his Twitter screen name (for now).

https://twitter.com/elonmusk

 

I think the Post reported on this previously: the company was deep in a $3 billion financial hole before Musk took over.

 

A 71% loss in advertising since Musk took over is adding to Twitter's financial woes.
An increase in subscription fees will not cover this chasm. Mr Tweet also has a massive loan payment at the end of January & if he and his backers can not meet that, bankruptcy maybe inevitable.
The question is: what will the banks do ?

Security & safety at Twitter also under scrutiny by the EU right now.
Twitter EU might be looking at a June 1, 2023 ban if EU concerns are not adequately addressed.

 

That's why I sold all of my Tesla shares, because I wouldn't be surprised if Musk may need to sell some more shares to pay off Twitter's debt. Or he will simply raise money by selling new Twitter shares, but not on the stock market since Twitter now is a private company again. So this is private equity, and as soon as Twitter's mess is fixed they will return to Wall Street.

 

LOL, Robinhood's Twitter was hacked, so security could still be better:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/hackers-take-over-robinhood-s-twitter-account-to-promote-scam-token

 

Oh, this is terrible. Wow! But in hind-sight, if Twitter can't (or won't) pay its rent, how can we expect significant upgrades to its general security?

 

Good point. But since I'm anti-crypto, I can't feel sorry for those people who lost $16000 dollar from this Robinhood scam by investing in these fake crypto tokens.

 

According to Reuters, the drop in advertising began in September, the month before Musk took over, when promotions were shown with tweets promoting child porn:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/...s-next-child-pornography-accounts-2022-09-28/

Another report indicates that child porn groups have moved to Mastodon. One SecJuice investigation reveals that it's actually dominated by such:

https://gript.ie/mastodon-dominated-by-child-pornography/

Finally, another reason why companies like HBO decreased advertising is because they're losing money, too. For example, WB Discovery is $3 billion in the hole, and HBO had to remove at least 14 percent of its employees. Similar is affecting other tech and media companies.

Meanwhile, Musk managed to cut Twitter losses from $3 billion to $270 million.

 

The banks came through for Mr Tweet (first month's payment - next payment due Feb 27)...

While Twitter made its first interest payment, its debt load is still a heavy burden. Annual interest is expected to exceed $1.2 billion, some of which carry floating rates that could continue to increase as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates.... Banks also provided Twitter with a $500 million revolving credit facility, which allows the company to borrow, pay it back and borrow again over the life of the loan. If Twitter draws on it, its interest expense would increase.

https://www.pressherald.com/2023/01/30/twitter-makes-first-interest-payment-on-musk-buyout-debt

 

"EDITORIAL: Twitter How to burn $44 billion"

I think that's $220 million and not billion.

The writer criticizes the purchase but unwittingly points out that the country was being run to the ground before Musk took over.

Related:

"Elon Musk says Twitter is losing $4 million a day: How many $8 subscribers would it need to break even?"

In short, Twitter was already doing poorly, while, as pointed out earlier, advertisers were complaining about problems like child porn before the sale was completed. Meanwhile, other reports point out that Meta also plans to come up with for-pay features.

 

Well, finally, the cuts to personnel are trickling all the way down here.

Spoiler: twit, what do you mean?

I post a tweet once in a great while, maybe 3 times a week. But it seems I've hit the 2400 post daily limit, acc. to Twitter. Looked this up online, it seems others are reporting the same thing. A BUG. Which, I guess is better than having a bot spam everywhere using your creds. Yikes! Anyone else experiencing this currently?

Edit: just checked my Twitter password--not pwned (yet). Hmmm.

 

"Twitter experiences widespread disruption as users get error message trying to post

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter experienced widespread problems Wednesday as users trying to post instead got error messages, the most serious disruption in the service since Elon Musk bought the platform in October.

It was not immediately clear what caused the disruption or if the problems were universal, but many users received an error message that they were 'over the daily limit for sending Tweets.'..."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna69822

 

Thanks, just posted a Tweet to check and it's fixed now. Didn't last long, thank goodness.

 

Also, Twitter's change password service works sometimes, then not. A message is returned to the user 'oops problem, not your fault'. I read that Musk is using the tech support staff from Tesla to combat the gremlins. I guess they work 24 hours, 7 days a week.

 

Looks like Elon Musk is actually stepping down,as Chief Twit before the end of the year. Acc. to my New York City newscast, he's still planning to head some teams there so he's not severing all the ties.

The newscast mentioned that online poll a few months ago that overwhelmingly voted in favor of his stepping down.

Edit: I bet you any amt. of money when it comes time for him to actually step down, there will be hordes yammering for him to stay on.

 

https://www.platformer.news/p/yes-elon-musk-created-a-special-system

 

Others now following Twitter:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/instagram-and-facebook-to-get-paid-for-verification.450598/

 

Interesting read. Gives insight into Elon emotional behavior. Thanks!

 

Hopefully he does not break out of his hamster sphere--he's creepy.

 

One implication not raised in the editorial is that advertisers were leaving and previous owners were eager to offload Twitter because a large chunk of the platform consisted of 'bots. That meant that it was pointless for advertisers to continue paying.

Now, not only the platform but others are now focusing on fixing systems and cleaning up content but also using other revenue streams, like subscription. We'll find out if it's too late to do so, but for now according to one source (see above) losses have dropped by over 90 percent.

What were the previous owners doing?