Thread by @ThyConsigliori

30 April 2022 #MAGAanalysis #1AMinuteMen

Elon – The CEO That Wasn’t

How much should a business executive make the political wellbeing of his nation his work? We're going to consider that today, as well as just how historic @elonmusk's purchase of Twitter appears to be, so far.

2) How is Elon the CEO that wasn't? He's NOT the CEO of Twitter and most likely never will be. He owns - assuming all goes to completion - 9% of Twitter's stock putting him in the driver's seat as its "owner." He is also taking it private. This is all to the good. Greatly so.

3) As its "owner," Musk will have a huge impact on the platform. But NOT being its CEO, and NOT setting its policy-level activities, I fear his impact will be limited. I often say I'd love to be wrong, and when I do, I always mean it. Nowhere more so than here.

4) Musk has clearly stated that free speech - it's lack, actually - is the biggest problem Twitter faces, and he couldn't be more right. Here's the problem. Free speech requires you to have an account, and Twitter controls whether you do or don't. And how do they do that?

5) Twitter controls its "community standards," and does so with an iron fist. If you "breach" their standards, and they can call anything they wish a breach, then your account is suspended. With a suspended account, you have no speech at all, free or otherwise.

6) Why would a CEO have power that an "owner" would not? There is but one way to actually set policy. You fire those who breach it. You reward those who keep it. And that is all in the land of execution, the domain of the executive. There's just a small bit more.

7) The great Tracy Beanz was back on Twitter for about 20 minutes or so this past week. Boom. Account suspended. Go look. @TracyBeanzUDC. Why? Who suspended her account? What process did they employ to do so? What is her recourse? Where is her right of free speech?

8) The CEO is the one to answer these questions. The Chief Executive Officer is the one who ensures that breach of free speech is sufficient to lose one one's job at Twitter. He'd have the power to reinstate Tracy's account over and above its suspension.

9) Here's my take. Musk's heart is in the right place, and more, his PR instinct is flawless. That he has chosen free speech as his PR identity, and backed that up with a $44 Billion move is AWESOME! It thrills me, and it tells me that a shift has taken place. Free speech lives.

10) Free speech lives as a construct, an idea. It lives in the world of marketing and self-promotion. That a PR genius of Musk's caliber has chosen it for his fundamental PR identity is absolutely important. Historic. We'll delve that more shortly.

11) But as to Twitter itself, it will NOT be until Musk ensures a true, a 100% true Free Speech CEO that meaningful change can commence. What's more, I doubt it's actually feasible. Sadly, here's why...

12) An outside investor cannot dictate the internal culture and values of a corporation. Myself, I don't believe there is a single free speech employee at Twitter. Not one. Thus, those setting and executing policy still rejoice when suspending Tracy Beanz's account.

13) Is it a brilliant play? Absolutely? Will he make or lose money? I couldn't care about that any more than he does. His $44 Billion, while not $25 at the roulette table in a casino, is money he can afford to lose. He'll make it up elsewhere if he does. Stick with me on that.

14) Musk already has the entire MAGA world of conservative voters supporting his SpaceX mission. He's got us. We love him. But...we tend to NOT buy Tesla vehicles. We do NOT love him that much. And Tesla was ALWAYS a politically correct play to the left.

15) If it costs him $44B to win the position of Free Speech Entrepreneur, what does it matter if Twitter lives, dies, or generates him a profit? It matters not one whit. Why not? He's going to sell Teslas to MAGA Maniacs, and there's a lot of us. We're a market worth winning.

16) Bad as my calculation skills are, I'm asking for some help. I calculate about 650,000 Teslas sold to equal $44B at top line. If Musk becomes the Free Speech Entrepreneur, could he sell an additional 650,000 cars to us in the MAGA World? I have to say yes, he could.

17) But seeking precision in hypothetical math like this is a fool's objective. It does NOT have to be precise, or even right. More is better than less. How much more is required? Just enough so that Musk feels like he won. He already feels that. And what's more, he's right.

18) Let's turn to the historic. To my recollection and assessment, free speech has NEVER been a PR/Marketing asset before. It took Twitter to destroy free speech, suffer thereby, and be saved by Musk for free speech to become a business asset. Wow.

19) So who wins this historic fight? Trump does. Musk honored Truth Social for its #1 slot on Apple's App Store. And, he clearly and simply stated that, if it weren't for free speech breaches, there would be NO Trump Social. Now that's cogent analysis.

20) But Musk is NOT CEO, and Tracy Beanz does NOT enjoy the right of speech at Twitter. The phrase, "you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube," comes to mind. Can you put the free speech back into Twitter? I hope so but fear not.

21) History?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

22) You can be alive in body, if not soul, with no right of speech. But without it you cannot be free. You cannot enjoy the right of Liberty without the right of speech. You cannot pursue happiness without the right of speech. Go slowly. Contemplate that.

23) Businesses exist inside a cultural milieu. They do NOT exist within a vacuum. If Elon Musk has decided that our ancient right of free speech is now a marketing asset, something has shifted. We used to assume it. We no longer do. Musk is a genius. Be clear on that.

24) If he feels, as I've assessed, that free speech sells him Teslas, we're in a new marketing world. And that would be historic. Free speech built America. Following leadership like Musk's, maybe rest of America's businesses will follow suit. Free speech sells.

25) Truth follows money. Musk is for free speech? The money has arrived. And its found its righteous spot. How so? It sells. Nothing is more important. If it didn't sell, it would go away. It does sell. So there.

30 April 2022 #MAGAanalysis thread ends at #25.

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