Warm up
—- * * FOR NEW STUDENTS ** ————————————— ————
- What industry do you work in and what is your role?
- What are your responses in your role / position?
- Can you describe to the function of your workplace / company?
- How many departments, how many offices. National or International?
- What are the minimum requirements for employment ie Education or Experience?
- How many opportunities are there to ‘move up the ladder’?
- What is the process for changing job roles ie Interview? Test?
————————————————– —— ——————————————————
- Current projects? Deadlines? Opportunities?
- Anything of interest happening?
————————————————————————————————————
1. Elon Musk and Twitter have always been a volatile combination. That’s especially unlikely to change now, with Musk buying a 9.2% stake in the social media company and landing a seat on Twitter’s board of directors.
2. The stake, which was disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday, is valued at more than $3 billion. For context, Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey’s stake in Twitter is just over 2% — and Dorsey, who stepped down as CEO in November 2021, is leaving Twitter’s board when his term ends in May.
3. Musk’s board term will last until 2024, the company said in a separate regulatory filing, functionally making him a more powerful figure within Twitter than Dorsey going forward. “Looking forward to working with [Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal] & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!” Musk tweeted on Tuesday.
This was a considerable investment, what do you think Musk’s main motivations were?
4. In a March 26 tweet, Musk accused the platform of “failing to adhere to free speech principles” and said he was giving “serious thought” to building his own social media platform. A regulatory filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission shows that Musk acquired his Twitter stake on March 14, meaning he was already Twitter’s largest outside shareholder when he publicly called out the platform.
5. On Tuesday, Twitter noted that Musk’s stake in the company cannot exceed 14.9% for the duration of his board term, but analysts told CNBC on Monday that Musk could still look to increase his ownership stake over time. Investors seem to be betting that Musk can exert control at Twitter: The social media company’s stock surged by 27% on Monday, and kept climbing after the company announced Musk’s board seat on Tuesday.
How much power will Musk have at Twitter?
6. Musk’s piece of Twitter is technically categorized as a “passive” stake, which means it falls just below the 10% threshold for a shareholder to be considered to be an “active” or “activist” shareholder. Typically, passive shareholders don’t try to exert much control over a company’s decision-making. Musk might be the exception to that rule.
Do you think there is a problem with free speech on social media (twitter or elsewhere) ?
Discuss.
What does Musk want?
7. The general perception from market analysts – and anyone who has followed Musk’s lively Twitter feed – is that the highly outspoken billionaire’s primary goal is to push for changes in Twitter free speech policies.
8. In recent years, Twitter has stepped up actions to battle misinformation and violent or inciting speech on its platform, even banning users who violate its guidelines — like, for example, former President Donald Trump. Some critics say the company needs to go even further down that road. Musk has instead criticized Twitter from the other direction, while openly complaining about regulators trying to “chill” his own right to free speech on social media.
9. Musk hasn’t yet specified exactly what steps he would like to see Twitter take in order to promote free speech on the platform, but some of his recent tweets indicate that he could use his new position to push back against the company’s content moderating policies and increased attempts to rid the platform of users who violate Twitter’s guidelines. In March, Musk launched a Twitter poll asking this question: “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?”
If you were in a position similar to Musks, what changes would you like to make to social media? (this could include anything from functionality to culture)
Phonetic Chart
