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Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

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Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#231

Post by jaspax »

chrisan wrote: post #227

I have a question for those who say things along the lines of twitter becoming "more open platform, with reduced censorship of unpopular people and ideas" Wasn't the only "censorship" twitter has done simply against harmful misinformation and hate speech? What exactly is twitter censoring that's outside of those two? I haven't used HN long enough to know why I can reply to some posts but not others, so sorry for this…

Twitter said that their censorship was against misinformation and hate speech. A great many people noticed that their actual implementation was erratic, inconsistent, and partisan, and would like for them to stop.

Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#232

Post by EtienneK »

logifail wrote: post #167
dehrmann wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be a bit lower than Toyota's value. Toyota sold 10.5M vehicles last year. Tesla sold 930k. Yes, Tesla's growth is solid, but the valuation is because of the true believers. I avoid investing in anything Elon touches because valuations get weird.

> Tesla's growth is solid, but the valuation is because of the true believers I'm really not what you'd call a believer in Tesla - although had my first ever ride in a one (a model 3) recently, quite an eye-opening experience. It's not as thought Tesla is the only company where the current valuation doesn't appear to make much sense looking at the numbers...

> eye-opening experience

How so? I've had rides in Model S's before and it was totally... fine? What made the Model 3 experience so much better than a conventional car?

Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#233

Post by hnbad »

andruby wrote: post #193
ohgodplsno wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>He's an engineer at heart. He has not built anything.

He did code on Zip2 and sold that startup successfully. Also, his official title at SpaceX is "Chief Engineer" [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

> He did code on Zip2 and sold that startup successfully.

Selling a startup is not an engineering achievment but a business achievment.

> Also, his official title at SpaceX is "Chief Engineer"

Owning a company means you can give yourself whatever titles you want.

So your entire argument seems to boil down to "he wrote code for Zip2", which happened a quarter of a century ago.

Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#234

Post by brtkdotse »

7speter wrote: post #222
tauntz wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Which now, with Morgan Stanley actually standing behind the offer, looks more or less certain Morgan Stanley only covers part of the total deal and Musk still needs to find a solid 21 billion from somewhere. That's probably doable for him but definitely not easy. I don't see it as "more or less certain" at least..

> Morgan Stanley only covers part of the total deal and Musk still needs to find a solid 21 billion from somewhere Is Musk’s reputation so bad that he, the owner of a car company that turned the car industry on its head (by proving that electric cars were possible) and pushed a massive paradigm shift in the lithium ion battery industry/market (maybe helped with the meteoric rise in demand mobile devices in the last d…

> Is Musk’s reputation so bad

The man has several SEC processes against him in progress and most of his wealth is locked in Tesla, so financially I’d say he’s not in a great position unless he offloads Tesla stock.

Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#235

Post by skocznymroczny »

chrisan wrote: post #227

I have a question for those who say things along the lines of twitter becoming "more open platform, with reduced censorship of unpopular people and ideas" Wasn't the only "censorship" twitter has done simply against harmful misinformation and hate speech? What exactly is twitter censoring that's outside of those two? I haven't used HN long enough to know why I can reply to some posts but not others, so sorry for this…

> harmful misinformation and hate speech?

that's the problem. These days anything you don't agree with can be considered harmful misinformation and hate speech. A year ago, doubting the almost 100% efficiency of masks or vaccines was "harmful, dangerous and may result in deaths", these days it's "common sense and valid skepticism".

Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#236

Post by xorcist »

jokethrowaway wrote: post #130
isitmadeofglass wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Really hard to imagine the richest and most accomplished dude on the planet not being able to secure funding. You don’t have to imagine. It literally already happened once when he claimed he had funding secured to take Tesla private. As such, if you can’t imagine him not having funding secured this time, you’re severely lacking in imagination.

Yes, relying on the word of Saudi Arabia without a written agreement was pretty dumb. Especially for 70B. This time the plan seems to have better foundations.

Especially considering Saudi Arabia is well known for cannabis jokes.

Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#237

Post by brtkdotse »

fredgrott wrote: post #71

The Elephant in the room is what is being provided. Elon is already at the limits of his hours on a daily basis to devote to things with SpaceX, Boring Company, Tesla, etc. Picture it this way, Twitter is your startup and Elon proposes to buy you out. Would you not question how much time we would devote as part of the buyout talks?

> Boring Company

Aside from a supposed pedestrian tunnel in Texas and that Tesla demonstration tunnel in Las Vegas, Boring Company has delivered 0 tunnels. Pretty sure it was started for meme potential only.

Oh, and the “flamethrower”

Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#238

Post by cloutchaser »

_fizz_buzz_ wrote: post #218
shafyy wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In his latest TED interview [0], Musk said that he had the funding secured for that Tesla private offering. He said that he needed to settle with the SEC so that they wouldn't freeze Tesla's bank accounts, and as part of the settlement he needed to publicly say that he hadn't secured funding. I don't think he's lying. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdZZpaB2kDM

That sounds super dubious, the SEC forced him to publicly lie in a settlement? Sorry, I am not buying it. You would have to put at least a dozen SEC lawyers on suicide watch after such a deal. And not only did they force him to lie in a settlement, now he suddenly breaks what he agreed to in that settlement without any consequences, so what was that settlement worth to begin with.

Yes, it sounds plausible, because if Tesla is threatened by certain SEC sanctions or legal troubles, banks could withdraw funding or raise interest rates on Tesla's debt, which would bankrupt the company. Or insurance companies could raise premiums or refuse to insure the company which again - could lead to catastrophe.

This is what Elon is saying and it sounds like a perfectly plausible scenario, under which you'd rather avoid the conflict and just shut up and sign and pay the fine.

Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#239

Post by heavenlyblue »

panick21_ wrote: post #74
mdoms wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Called somebody something bad on twitter once I assume you're talking about the time he called a diver (and actual hero) a pedophile. It went a bit further than that - he hired a private investigator who tried (and failed) to dig up dirt on the man.

The diver was not a hero. He was an somebody that himself did little, and pushed himself into the media where he actually started insulting Musk and his team. He created a false narrative about what Musk and his team of engineers (literal rocket engineers) were doing. Musk and his engineers had coordinated with the actual rescue team and the Mini-Sub they build was according to specification from the diving team who…

> He was an somebody that himself did little, and pushed himself into the media where he actually started insulting Musk and his team.

This is exactly what Musk himself had said, can you please provide any sources for many paragraphs of unsubstantiated claims you just made? :)

Re: Twitter re-examines Elon Musk’s bid, may be more receptive to a deal

#240

Post by hnbad »

mlindner wrote: post #228
hnbad wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He's someone with aspergers who takes someone at face value at all times. He doesn't handle being deceived well nor does he know when it's happening. > "Businessman" would require strong social skills, not something someone with aspergers has good ability at. This exact nonsense is why the autistic community was so displeased when he made a big show of having "asperger's" (which in the US under DSM-V is just autism…

> This exact nonsense is why the autistic community was so displeased when he made a big show of having "asperger's" (which in the US under DSM-V is just autism, btw). Can we please stop justifying toxic and reckless behavior with "oh but they're autistic" as if we're talking about naive children not grown adults? There's no such thing as "the autistic community" (though I won't deny some people may self-proclaim the…

> It's just how he thinks.

And I, as an autist, am telling you that this is a farcical caricature that is routinely used to excuse shitty behavior and at the same time deny us autonomy.

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