Elon Musk mocked the Washington Post Friday after an op-ed from the paper called for federal regulations to prevent the rich from ‘controlling’ social media, following the Tesla CEO’s $3billion Twitter share buy-in earlier this week.
The piece, titled ‘Elon Musk’s vision of ‘free speech’ will be bad for Twitter,’ criticized the purchase as ‘highly disconcerting — a slap in the face, even’ – but conspicuously saw no mention of the outlet’s own billionaire owner, Musk rival Jeff Bezos.
‘Lmaooo,’ Musk, 50, tweeted Friday, in a reaction to the op-ed excerpt.
Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, ruffled feathers this week when it was announced he purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant – making him the platform’s largest shareholder – and was joining the company’s board of directors.
The brazen business move from Muse, a staunch Libertarian who has long accused the site of censoring users’ free speech, saw some express concerns over the South African mogul’s growing influence – including Post contributor Ellen Pao, who penned the scathing piece.
‘Musk’s appointment to Twitter’s board shows that we need regulation of social-media platforms to prevent rich people from controlling our channels of communication,’ Pao, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who once served as the CEO of Reddit, wrote Friday.
‘Musk has been open about his preference that Twitter do less to restrict speech that many see as hateful, abusive or dangerous,’ Pao, who boasts a reported net worth of $150million, continued.
‘Given his new influence, the way he himself has used the platform bodes ill for its future.’
Elon Musk mocked the Washington Post Friday after an op-ed from the paper called for federal regulations to prevent the rich from ‘controlling’ social media, following the Tesla CEO’s $3billion Twitter share buy-in earlier this week
The piece , titled ‘Elon Musk’s vision of ‘free speech’ will be bad for Twitter,’ criticized the purchase as ‘highly disconcerting — a slap in the face, even’ – but conspicuously saw no mention of the outlet’s own billionaire owner, Musk rival Jeff Bezos.
Pao, who unsuccessfully sued former employer Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, in a filing that argued she was falsely terminated from the firm in 2012 because she was a woman, went on to pan Musk, 50, known for antics on social media, for a history of posts she deemed insensitive.
‘Musk, who has nearly 81 million followers, often punches down in his tweets, displaying very little empathy,’ Pao, 52, wrote.
The millionaire tech investor pointed to recent incidents of Musk posting flippantly on social media – including a 2018 tweet where the Tesla head joking referred to a British cave explorer who helped rescue 12 Thailand children in a highly publicized cave rescue as a ‘pedo guy.’
Vernon Unsworth, the caver Musk was referring to in the tweet, subsequently sued the billionaire – who boasts a reported net worth of $282billion, nearly $100billion more than second-richest man Bezos – for defamation, a suit the explorer lost.
‘He called a British caver who helped to rescue trapped young Thai divers “a pedo guy” (beating a defamation suit over the slur but adding to his reputation as a bully),’ Pao wrote.
Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, ruffled feathers this week when it was announced he purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant – making him the platform’s largest shareholder – and was joining the company’s board of directors
Pao panned Musk as a ‘troll’ for his internet practices, and warned readers of the entrepreneur’s burgeoning influence.
‘Like many trolls,’ Pao wrote, ‘Musk says his critics — both those on Twitter and those who sue him — should be more “thick-skinned,”‘ referring to a phrase the Tesla tweeted in message to factory workers, following a suit from the state of California filed in February that alleges black staffers at the company’s facility in Fremont were subjected to racial harassment.
The Post piece then pointed to another, since-delete post from Musk from February, that compared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler, with a meme that criticized the politician’s crackdown on Freedom Convoy protests.
The piece was penned by Ellen Pao, a former Silicon Valley CEO and venture capitalist – with a reported 150 million net worth – who unsuccessfully sued former employer Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, in a filing that argued she was falsely terminated from the firm in 2012 because she was a woman
The post saw no mention of the outlet’s own billionaire owner, Musk rival Jeff Bezos, currently the world’s second richest man, behind the Tesla mogul
The Post piece criticized Musk for since-delete post from February (pictured) that compared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler, and criticized the politician’s crackdown on Freedom Convoy protests
‘In February, he tweeted, then deleted, a meme comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler,’ Pao wrote.
The op-ed contributor went on to the slam tech mogul for calling himself a ‘free-speech absolutist’ last month in a post that saw the Tesla CEO defend his decision to not stop Russian state media outlets from accessing Starlink internet satellites the exec sent to help Ukrainians access the internet amid the ongoing invasion.
In the post, Musk said he made the call because he’s not ‘sorry to be a free speech absolutist.’
The op-ed contributor went on to the slam tech mogul for calling himself a ‘free-speech absolutist’ last month in a post that saw the Tesla CEO defend his decision to not stop Russian state media outlets from accessing Starlink internet satellites the exec sent to help Ukrainians access the internet amid the ongoing invasion
Pao wrote of Musk’s assertion: ‘Like many “free speech” advocates, he willfully ignores that private companies are free to establish some limits on their platforms.’
‘Twitter made strides to remove hate and harassment and to give users more control over how they share their opinions. It added features that let users limit who could reply to their tweets, created labels for misleading content and banned President Donald Trump’s account.
‘After all that, bringing Musk onto the board seems like a big step backward,’ Pao proclaimed.
‘He can bend the company toward his preferences, removing reasonable policies on hateful speech and urging people who are harassed to have thicker skins.’
Pao then criticized Twitter’s decision to appoint Musk to the company’s board, and called for government regulation of social-media platforms to prevent rich people from controlling’ the media.
‘For starters, we need consistent definitions of harassment and of content that violates personal privacy,’ Pao said of the prospective federal intervention plan.
‘Most companies, I suspect, would welcome such regulations… If platforms continue to push for growth at all costs — without such regulations — people will continue to be harmed.
‘The people harmed will disproportionately be those who have been harmed for centuries — women and members of marginalized racial and ethnic groups. The people who benefit from unrestricted amplification of their views will also be the same people who have benefited from that privilege for centuries.’
Following the piece’s publishing Friday morning, many, including Musk, were quick to question the credibility of Pao’s remark, given the Post’s own ties to billionaire Bezos.
‘Why is it funny? Because Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post,’ one user wrote.
‘Not sure why they would be worried by @elonmusk buying a bit of Twitter,’ another added. ‘It’s ironic because doesn’t Bezos own that paper. Murdoch owns a lot of the worlds papers and news. Rich people have always owned the narrative. It’s up to you to pick your truth to follow.’
‘Should be the Washington Woke,’ another sniped.
Following the piece’s publishing Friday morning, many were quick to question the credibility of Pao’s remark, given the Post’s own ties to billionaire Bezos
Twitter entered into its board membership agreement with Musk on Monday, an SEC report revealed.
After submitting the regulatory filing Tuesday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced Musk’s board membership on the social media, alleging the billionaire brings ‘great value’ to the company.
‘I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmusk to our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board,’ Agrawal wrote.
‘He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon!’
Musk responded to the CEO, saying: ‘Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!’
Other board members seemed receptive to Musk – who has 80 million Twitter followers – joining their ranks, with several issuing welcome messages online, including platform founder Jack Dorsey.
Twitter board members, including founder Jack Dorsey, seemed excited about Musk’s appointment
Several, including Omid Kordestani, the board’s executive chairman and a current member, posted messages of welcome to the platform
Board chair and Salesforce Co-CEO Bret Taylor said they were excited to work with Musk
‘I’m really happy Elon is joining the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it,’ Dorsey tweeted. ‘Parag and Elon both lead with their hearts, and they will be an incredible team.’
Board chair and Salesforce Co-CEO Bret Taylor echoed the sentiment, saying: ‘Welcome to the Twitter board, @elonmusk! We are all excited to work with you and build the future of Twitter together.’
Taylor’s post was retweeted by fellow board members Mimi Alemayehou, Senior Vice President for Public-Private Partnership at Mastercard; Martha Lane Fox, Founder and Chairperson of Lucky Voice Group; and Stanford University professor Dr. Fei-Fei Li.
Omid Kordestani, the board’s executive chairman and a current member, wrote: ‘Welcome @elonmusk!’
The four remaining board members – Former World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Invoia Capital general partner Patrick Pichette, 1stdibs.com Inc. CEO David Rosenblatt, and Egon Durban, Co-CEO of Silver Lake – did not publicly comment on Musk’s appointment to the board.
None of the members immediately responded to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
Twitter stocks have surged since mid-March when Musk purchased his stake
Stock prices rose by more than 3 percent on Tuesday after news of Musk’s board appointment
Millions of investors flocked to Twitter’s stock after Musk disclosed his 9.2 percent stake in the company.
The stock became the most bought U.S. stock by retail investors on Monday, surging 27 percent in value.
Stock prices rose by more than three percent, to 50.98, on Tuesday after news of Musk’s board appointment. The stock was trading at around 39 on Friday.
In the latest Forbes list, Musk, increased his net worth to $282billion, nearly $100billion richer than Amazon founder Bezos, whose net worth is $183.6billion.