Three days before Elon Musk , the world鈥檚 richest man tweeted a photo of Bill Gates and used a crude term to make fun of his belly.
Playful, aggressive and often juvenile, Musk鈥檚 past tweets show how he has used social media to craft his public image as a brash billionaire unafraid to offend. They may also reveal clues as to how Musk he hopes to own.
鈥淟ook at the feed: It鈥檚 all over the place. It鈥檚 erratic. At times it鈥檚 pretty extreme,鈥� said Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University professor who studies social media and who recently assigned Musk鈥檚 tweets as reading material for their students. 鈥淚t paints him as some sort of rebel leader who will take control of the public square to save it. That is a myth he has constructed.鈥�
Musk joined Twitter in 2010 and now has more than 85 million followers 鈥� the seventh most of any account and the highest for any business leader. He had mused about buying the site before for Twitter, which he said he hopes to turn into a haven where all speech is allowed.
鈥淚 hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,鈥� Musk wrote in a tweet.
As the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk uses his Twitter account to make business announcements and promote his enterprises. He muses about technology and trade, but has also posted jokes about women鈥檚 breasts and once compared Canada鈥檚 prime minister to Hitler. He regularly weighs in on global events, as he did in March 2020 when he tweeted that 鈥淭he coronavirus pandemic is dumb.鈥�
He鈥檚 also used the account to punch back at critics, such as when working to rescue boys trapped in a cave in Thailand a 鈥減edo,鈥� short for pedophile. The diver had previously criticized Musk鈥檚 proposal to use a sub to rescue the boys. Musk, who won a defamation suit filed by the diver, later said he never intended 鈥減edo鈥� to be interpreted as 鈥減edophile.鈥�
A few years ago, after software engineer Cher Scarlett criticized Musk鈥檚 handling of the cave incident, the tech billionaire fired back and she was soon being harassed by dozens of Musk鈥檚 online fans. He later deleted the posts, but not before Scarlett had to lock down her account because she was receiving so many hateful messages.
鈥淚t鈥檚 ironic to me that somebody who claims they want to buy Twitter to protect free speech has such thin skin,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a very smart man, and when he replies to people that criticize him, he knows what he鈥檚 doing. To me that鈥檚 not championing free speech, it鈥檚 weaponizing free speech, and I think that鈥檚 what he鈥檒l do owning this platform.鈥�
Nineteen-year-old Jack Sweeney got Musk鈥檚 attention when he created an automated Twitter account that tracked the movements of Musk鈥檚 jet. Musk responded by offering Sweeney $5,000 to pull the account. When Sweeney refused, Musk blocked him on Twitter.
Sweeney said he鈥檚 worried he may get kicked off the site entirely if Musk鈥檚 takeover is approved. But he said he , and hopes he sees it through.
鈥淗e鈥檒l make it more open, and I think that鈥檚 a good thing,鈥� Sweeney said.
Musk鈥檚 use of Twitter has also led to . In one August 2018 tweet, for instance, Musk asserted that he had the funding to take Tesla private for $420 a share, although a court has ruled that it wasn鈥檛 true. That led to an SEC investigation that Musk is still fighting.
More recently, Musk appeared to have that required him to disclose that he鈥檇 acquired a 5% stake in Twitter; instead he waited until he had more than 9%. Experts say these issues aren鈥檛 likely to affect his Twitter acquisition.
Last year another federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board, ordered Musk to delete a tweet that officials said illegally threatened to cut stock options for Tesla employees who joined the United Auto Workers union.
Those tweets helped cement Musk鈥檚 reputation as a brash outsider, a workingman鈥檚 billionaire, Grygiel said. But that doesn鈥檛 mean he is equipped to run a social media platform with more than 200 million users, the professor added.
鈥淢aybe he wants to burn it down,鈥� Grygiel said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. But I do know that it shows that no one person should have this kind of power.鈥�
鈥擠avid Klepper, The Associated Press
