Elon Musk’s take over of Twitter worries analysts as he offers to buy the company for “the future of civilization”. Last week, Elon talked about his decision to buy the social media platform during an interview with TED Talk. He said that he was motivated by freedom of speech, changing the current algorithm to allow everyone to speak their mind.
Currently, Elon Musk is already the largest shareholder of Twitter at 9%. Last week, other shareholders implemented a “poison pill” to stop Elon from acquiring 15% of the shares. Analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group says “poor impulse control and too much money are not a good combination.”
“Musk says he is going to turn Twitter into a social media platform with no moderation; there have been several of those and they don’t work,” he added.
“The trolls take over, they get too hostile and drive people away from the platform.”
“Musk is not exactly a free speech advocate,” Enderle said. “I think he just doesn’t like to be told ‘no’.”
Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi says “I don’t think anybody would argue that everything Elon Musk does he does for himself.”
“You hear at Tesla of racism, lack of unions, and the way workers are treated and it doesn’t seem to me that his priorities are in the right place.”
“Twitter might be thinking about what regulators are going to do if Musk takes over,” Milanesi said.
“Twitter has already had enough scrutiny, and they will have more if Musk buys it.”
Not all have negative thoughts on his takeover. Some have different opinions on the matter.
“You cannot deny what Musk’s accomplished,” said RiskSmith investing chief executive Richard Smith.
“I think he could probably transform Twitter.”