There are also questions about whether his threats to launch an alternative platform ahead of buying the Twitter stake amount to market manipulation. With the SEC currently investigating him over tweets in November asking his followers whether he should sell his Tesla stake, he may now attract further ire from the regulator.
But whatever happens on that front, Musk will certainly be able to weigh if his removal from Twitter is ever on the cards. That is a huge defensive advantage for Tesla from losing such a significant source of marketing. So while Musk can say that he is focused on freedom of speech by buying this stake in Twitter, let’s not forget that he has the most to gain from the deal.
MUSK MAKES HIS MARK ON THE INTERNET
Most of the internet and its users are now controlled by a handful of companies including Alibaba, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Google and to a lesser extent Twitter. This has created a power hierarchy where many startups and investors actively avoid areas where these ever-growing ecosystems have extended their reach.
Musk and Tesla have so far been sheltered from this phenomenon by focusing on disrupting the largely unconnected automotive industry, to much success. By buying into Twitter, Musk now has a small, but well established, beachhead from where he can take on these entrenched players.
His infamous penchant for having a long-term view and unconventional strategic choices is likely to mean that he will shake things up, even if it is not clear today how he will do so. Certainly, it can be said, with a sense of surety, that Twitter is now a far more interesting company than what it was a few days ago.
Hamza Mudassir is a Lecturer in Strategy at the Cambridge Judge Business School. This commentary first appeared in The Conversation.
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