Elon Musk was questioned about his newest bid to acquire Twitter when at an event there at the TED conference near Vancouver, British Columbia. The journalist, Chris Anderson, asked Elon Musk if his status as that of the wealthiest man, so one of the platform’s key influencers, may cause friction.
Mark Zuckerberg’s role at Meta has been compared to a monarch by Elon Musk
Elon Musk took the opportunity to smear Mark Zuckerberg. “As far as media ownership goes, you’ve got Mark Zuckerberg owning Facebook, Instagram, plus WhatsApp, with a shareholding structure that will keep Mark Zuckerberg the 14th in charge,” Musk said.
Elon Musk is said to be the world’s longest-reigning ruler, King Louis XIV of France, who ruled for more than 72 years. Facebook’s holding company, Meta, which includes Facebook, and Instagram, was also mentioned by the Tesla CEO. Mark Zuckerberg holds 55% of the voting shares, giving him veto power over the company’s fate.
Because Mark Zuckerberg’s select executive management, plus directors’ shares, is worth ten votes, and ordinary shareholders have just one vote per share, the company has a dual-class stock structure that allows them to supervise authority.
Meta was reached for comment, but nobody answered straight away. Elon Musk exerts enormous authority even though Tesla doesn’t have a dual-class stock structure. He is the largest individual stakeholder in the electric car maker, with a 17% interest. While Elon Musk does not have the same amount of control over Tesla as Mark Zuckerberg does over Meta, the company does indeed have supermajority voting processes in place, which need two-thirds of shares to approve significant changes, effectively giving Elon Musk veto power.
Elon Musk also stated that if he were to purchase Twitter, he would manage the firm so that no conflict of interest would surface, including making the platform’s code publicly available.
Elon Musk argued that buying Twitter was “not a way to protect free expression’’. The Tesla CEO appeared critical of Meta‘s moderating efforts. The social media industry has been blasted for handling COVID-19 misinformation and the Capitol siege. Elon Musk thinks it’s best to err on allowing information circulation if it’s legal in the country where the platform operates.
Buying Twitter, Elon Musk maintained, was “not a method to make money” but rather “a way to safeguard free expression.” Meta spokesperson appeared to be criticised by the Tesla CEO as well. Both sides of the aisle have condemned the social media sector for its handling of COVID-19 misinformation and the Capitol siege. Elon Musk believes that erring on the side of enabling information sharing if it is legal in the nations in which the platform operates is preferable.
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