Tag Archives: elon musk tesla

Elon Musk, Twitter

Elon Musk owns Twitter after $44 Billion: What’s Next?

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Freedom of Speech is declared driving force for Takeover

Twitter Inc. announced that it has agreed to be acquired by an entity that is wholly owned by Elon Musk. The news comes after it was widely leaked that negotiations were underway over the weekend and that a deal was imminent.

Going forward the company will be privately held and current stockholders will be compensated at $54.20 for each share of common stock that they own as of completion of the deal. This represents a 38% premium over the closing price on April 1st when Musk’s 9% stake was announced.

The board voted unanimously to the proposal and, though subject to the approval of Twitter’s shareholders, and applicable regulatory approvals the agreement is expected to go through in 2022.

What will follow is unknown, but speculation is rampant

Since the announcement on April 1st that Elon Musk had purchased approximately 9% of Twitter and this Saga began, there has been a busier than usual frenzy of speculation regarding the possibility that has now come to pass.

On the most superficial level, there was an odd kind of measured jubilation on the political Right, with speculation that Musk might re-instate Trump and others who have been permanently banned (although Trump himself indicated that he would decline if invited back) and a sense of horror on the Left – with an implied mistrust of the world’s richest human, connecting this situation to ongoing debates over wealth taxes and economic inequality overall.

On a deeper track are those closer to the situation – such as Jack Dorsey, who expressed support and openly criticized the current board and public structure in elucidating tweets, such as the one below.

Looking back at some of the harmony and love shared over bitcoin and other major topics an alliance, or at least a consulting status for @Jack could be amazing in terms of what could come of this – a private Twitter with Musk at the helm, in terms of a new direction for social media and all online business and how they evolve going forward.

While it may seem presumptuous to think it won’t be a disaster, there are deeper issues that would indicate that a lot more thought might have gone into this than a superficial look reveals.

Elon Musk has proved, and explained to anyone that will listen, that his motives and goals for any business endeavor are in a new category of entrepreneur, and his success, often against incredible odds, are a testament to the power of this mindset.

With Tesla, he took on nothing less than the most powerful, entrenched (and arguably corrupt) special interest group in history, the fossil fuel industry, and somehow, due perhaps as much to timing as to any particular strategy or plan, prevailed.

That this takeover could mark the beginning of real change in “Web2” and social media, regarding of the risk of a private individual excepting near absolute control, it is a welcome change, based on the reality that the status quo, at Twitter and basically all the so-called internet giants could not be any worse.

Let’s hope that the public and very visible lead up to this deal will be followed in the near future by a continuation of that openness and that changes and plans will be announced as they happen, which would be entertaining at the least, and exhilarating at best.

There’s a lot more to unpack in this, not just in the reactions and opinions that will surely flood now that the next step is upon us. but in a fruitful and valuable deeper look into the real motivations and potential of this new deal.

For that, please stay tuned, and for now, please let me know what you think about Twitter’s decision and new owner.

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Climate Solutions, Earth and Ecology, Observation

Elon Musk donating $100M for Carbon Capture Tech: Twitter wants Trees

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Immediate pushback is a healthy sign of debate

Elon Musk is one of the most interesting humans, and now he is also, at any given moment, the wealthiest. It’s somewhat unusual, even on Twitter, to see anything but positive and supportive reactions to his tweets, given the level of love and admiration he has among followers.

Above: Photo / Adobe Stock

Add to that the concrete, if cryptic, pledge to donate 100M towards a prize for the “best carbon capture tech. It has been pointed out that this is .05% of his net worth, but that is an odd calculation, it seems, since Tesla itself is firmly on the side of climate rescue, with it’s stated mission to “to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy”.

It is, as a matter of fact, what separates Musk from almost every other tech-billionaire: His motivations are not to acquire wealth as an end but only to support his planet and species saving efforts. Others, such as his sometimes rival (not worthy) Jeff Bezos, can not claim any such thing with a straight face (or any believability).

The reactions were swift and attempted humor but also truth

Click to see “Kiss the Ground” on bookshop. Also available on Amazon.

The number of replies that popped up swiftly proposing planting trees as likely the best “carbon capture tech” that would deserve such a prize was noteworthy. Because, in one of the few criticisms of the EV revolution that Tesla has started, it is likely not enough to rely solely on “S3XY” technology to save the world from carbon emissions causing global warming and climate change.

Not only is the plant-a-tree a valid rejoinder to the idea that some kind of elaborate technological breakthrough is needed (Bill Gates recently suggested blotting out the sun as a cooling solution), but there are also other “low tech” solutions that should not get short-shrift in order to fund expensive, possibly overly technological, solutions to a problem of our own making.

The recent highly acclaimed documentary film “Kiss the Ground” proposes soil regeneration to reduce carbon emission, improve health benefits of food and, at the same time actually reduce the amount of carbon already in the atmosphere.

Read More: “Kiss The Ground” Documentary Offers Hopeful Remedy to Climate Change by Focusing on Soil Regeneration

The arguments made by this excellent documentary beg the question: why not take funds, such as those being offered by Elon Musk, and divert them first towards obvious, low-tech solutions with proven results, rather than funding a moon-shot style tech search for a method that may, in then end, like so much that has come before, have unintended and even possibly negative repercussions.

At the very least, shouldn’t a portion of this 100 million, or even an equal sum (purportedly amounting to, therefore, 1% rather than .05% of Musks net worth) be allocated to existing, proven methods, rather than a search for new tech invented out of whole cloth?

Twitter posts hit a nerve, now maybe government and private funding should follow common sense

This is not a scientific or detail specific criticism. There may well be “issues” with planting trees or recovering damages soil around the world, and in the process reversing carbon imbalances and even reducing the levels currently measured.

But common sense says otherwise. The destruction of the soil and the deforestation of the globe are part and parcel of the same problem, extreme dependence on fossil fuel long after the dangers were well known, that has caused the current and worsening global problem.

Elon Musk is a hero of the sustainable energy movement, as he well should be. It is powerful and dedicated figures like Musk that are needed, desperately, to solve the looming and already unfolding crises that we face.

The voices for trees and soil regeneration are also an extremely important element of the solutions that are desperately needed, sans the hoopla and massive money prize that tech already has attached.

Would it be too far fetched, @elonmusk, for these various factions, all wanting the same result, to cooperate and collaborate on all the solutions that will undoubtedly be required is we are to pull back from the brink and substantially improve the condition of a planet on its way to possible total annihilation?

Read more: Climate Crisis Coverage by Lynxotic

Thanks to Elon Musk for all his contributions and they are many. Rescuing the E.V. and turning the entire auto industry on it’s head and bringing about an accelerating transition to sustainable transportation much sooner than could have happened without him and Tesla.

Creating the understanding that a business and an entrepreneur does not have to focus relentlessly on profit for its own sake to be successful and powerful. And, as for giving the human species a “plan-b” in the form of abandoning a dying earth in favor of Mars, let’s stick with plan A for now and plant trees, reiterate the soil and, yes, find other solutions to the massive carbon emissions that are choking the life out of our world.

https://twitter.com/NtJibey/status/1352393640300212225?s=20
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Business, Finance, Tech

Elon Musk rips off title ‘World’s Richest Man’ from Jeff Bezos: Net worth $180 billion

Above: Photo Collage / Lynxotic

Bezos knocked from #1 slot that he has held since 2017

According to Bloomberg, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX just passed up Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person. While this, in and of itself is a fact that many will likely fetishize, the real story here is why and how.

There could not, IMHO, be two people more diametrically opposed in terms of motivation, inspiration and method. Both obscenely rich now? Of course. In each case because of stock holdings in companies they founded? Right again.

After that it is all a study in contrasts and contradictions. For example, as recently as Christmas eve 20o8 Elon Musk was nearly bankrupt and was on the verge of losing both SpaceX and Tesla. Later as recently as 2019, Tesla was in a deep financial hole.

Was this a case of bad management? Apparently not. What it was related to was the prime difference between Bezos and Musk. Musk has always only had one mission. Was it having the world’s most dominant eCommerce company? (or any other kind). One that would destroy entire business categories and be called the “grim reaper” due to it’s destruction of markets and competitors?

No – Musk has always wanted to save the world from itself. Tesla’s stated official mission is:

Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. … Teslabelieves the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission future, the better.

Tesla / Elon Musk

Perhaps the cynical would say this is just some kind of veil hiding a capitalist and monopolist hunger a la Bezos. But they’d be wrong. Musk has openly stated that he is willing to share various proprietary technical information with his competitors if it would help the world’s transition to sustainable energy succeed faster. Would Bezos give away Amazon’s secrets. Take a guess.

Read more: Is Jeff Bezos soon to be World’s First Trillionaire? No Chance in Hell. Here’s Why

Another interesting tidbit – Both SpaceX and Tesla have publicly disavowed all copyright claims to their photos, videos or other marketing assets. They also do zero paid advertising. This is brilliant and has made them money in the end, but more importantly it is additional proof that it is the success of the mission, a mission that ultimately benefits all humanity more than any singe individual, that is paramount in his thinking.

Though Musk may not realize it, he and Steve Jobs are kindred spirits

The only other highly successful tech visionary that had this kind of focus on the real success, which can by definition only ever be success for all, if Steve Jobs. With so much misinformation and focus on meaningless stats, like whose stock is worth the most paper dollars (printed at will by the Fed) at any given moment, it is often misunderstood that the mission and the sincerity and effectiveness of the mission that will always matter in the end.

Read more: How Apple Created the Tech Universe and it Finally Makes Sense

Probably the greatest gift Bezos ever has or ever will give to humanity was via his divorce. Any other “charitable” act he will ever commit will be, first and foremost, have the goal of improving his image and stroking his massive ego.

Therein lies the difference.

Early Thursday Tesla shares (TSLA) rose by 6%, and further lifting the CEO’s stock holdings and options by $10 billion, resulting in the net worth of approximately $191 billion.  

Musk edged past the Amazon founder who is currently has the net worth of around $187 billion. 

He later added, “Well, back to work …”

Musk, who pinned the following past tweet from 2018 explained his intentions and how he will use money from his success, “You should ask why I would want money. The reason is not what you think. Very little time for recreation. Don’t have vacation homes or yachts or anything like that.”

Bill Gates is trailing as the third world’s richest person at $132 billion. 

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