Original Source: The Wall Street Journal
Original Author: Walter Isaacson
Original Translation: czgsws, BlockBeats
The biography of Elon Musk, the world's richest person, founder of OpenAI and SpaceX, owner of X (formerly Twitter), and CEO of Tesla, "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future," will officially be published and released on September 12. The book is written by Walter Isaacson, the author of "Steve Jobs: A Biography," a well-known contemporary American biographer. The Wall Street Journal has excerpted a portion of the "Twitter War" and released it in advance. BlockBeats has compiled and translated it as follows:
Gaming Addict
In April 2022, everything seemed to be going unusually well for Elon Musk. Tesla's stock price had increased 15 times in the past 5 years, surpassing the combined value of 9 other automobile companies. SpaceX had launched more rockets into orbit in the first quarter of 2022 than all other companies and countries combined. And Starlink satellites had just successfully created a private internet, providing network services to 500,000 users in 40 countries, including Ukraine.
If Musk could navigate through 2022 smoothly, it would be a glorious year. But that was clearly not his nature.
Shivon Zilis, a manager at Neuralink (Musk's company dedicated to implantable brain-machine interfaces) and the mother of Musk's two children, noticed in early April that Musk was like a gaming addict who, despite winning, couldn't unplug and felt restless.
She tried to persuade Musk, "You don't have to always be in a state of war. Or, do you find greater psychological comfort when you're at war?"
"It's part of my default setting. I always want to push the chips back to the table or challenge the next level of the game," Musk replied.
Due to circumstances, this unsettling period of success coincided with him exercising some expiring stock options, which left him with around $10 billion in cash.
"I don't want to leave it in the bank," he said. "So I asked myself, what product do I like? It's a simple question: Twitter." In January of that year, Musk secretly told his private business manager, Jared Birchall, to start buying Twitter stock.
Musk aggressively acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X, signaling his current modus operandi: impulsive and irreverent. It was an addictive playground for him. It had many characteristics of a campus, including mockery and bullying. But with Twitter, clever kids won followers. They wouldn't be pushed down the stairs and beaten up like Musk was as a child. Owning it would make him the king of the campus.
Elon Musk (right) and Peter Thiel's company merged to form PayPal in October 2000. Photo source: PAUL SAKUMA/AP
Opening up the Field
Over two decades ago, Musk founded a company called X.com, with the ambition of creating a "universal application" that could handle all personal financial transactions and social relationships. After merging with the payment service company PayPal, co-founded by Peter Thiel, Musk fought hard to keep X.com as the name of the merged company. However, his new colleagues resisted the idea, as PayPal had already become a trusted brand name, much like Twitter today, with its recognition and brand effect, while the name X.com evoked thoughts of a "dirty website." Musk was forced out, but he remains steadfast.
Musk said, "If you want to be a niche player, then PayPal is indeed a good name, but if you want to take over the global financial system, then X is the better choice."
When he began buying Twitter stock, Musk saw Twitter as a way to fulfill his initial vision, and he also felt that the name Twitter had too limited a scope.
Musk said, "Twitter could become what X.com should have been, and we can help save freedom of speech in the process."
At that time, a new concern began to emerge, with Musk increasingly worried about the danger of what he called the "awakening culture" and believed that this virus was infecting America.
Musk said earnestly, "Civilization will never develop into a multi-planetary mode unless the virus of 'awakening culture' is stopped."
Musk's anti-awakening sentiment was partly triggered by his oldest child, Xavier (then 16 years old), deciding to transition.
"Hey, I'm transgender, and my name now is Jenna." the child texted Musk's brother's wife. "Don't tell Dad."
Later, Jenna cut off all ties with Musk, believing that anyone rich is evil, despite Musk's repeated attempts to reconcile. He partly attributed it to the ideology absorbed by Jenna while attending an progressive school, Crossroads School in Los Angeles. He believes that Twitter has been influenced by left-wing voices.
"Twitter needs a Charizard"
On the evening after the news of his purchase of Twitter shares became public, Musk called the then CEO of Twitter, Parag Agrawal, and they decided to secretly meet for dinner with Twitter board chairman Bret Taylor on March 31.
Musk found Agrawal likable. "He's a very nice person," he said. But that's the problem. If you ask Musk what traits a CEO needs, being a genuinely nice person would not be included. One of his mottos is that managers should not aim to be likable. He said after that meeting, "Twitter needs a Charizard, and Agrawal is not that."
At that time, Musk had not yet considered taking over Twitter personally. In their meeting, Agrawal invited him to join the Twitter board, and he agreed, but the calmness was short-lived.
Musk's vision for X.com
On the afternoon of April 6, the day after Musk announced his joining the Twitter board, Musk's close friends Luke Nosek and Ken Howery expressed their concerns at a gathering, "This could cause trouble." Musk cheerfully admitted at the meeting, "It's obvious that the asylum is run by the inmates," referring to Twitter's staff.
Twitter logo on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, November 2021. Photo source: RICHARD DREW/AP
Musk reiterated his simple point that if Twitter stops trying to limit users' speech, it would be beneficial for democracy. Although Howery agrees with Musk's liberal view on freedom of speech, he responded mildly with a counterargument. "Should it be like the telephone system, where what is input at one end is output in exactly the same form at the other end? Or do you think it's more like a system that manages the world's discourse, perhaps with some intelligence in the algorithm to prioritize or de-prioritize things?"
"Yes, it's a tricky question," Musk replied. "There's also the question of how much freedom of speech should be elevated or amplified. Perhaps the way tweets are promoted should be more open, like an open-source algorithm on GitHub, so people can filter it themselves."
Then Musk threw out some other ideas. "What if we charged people a small fee, like $2 a month, for verification?" he asked. Musk believed that obtaining users' credit card information would eliminate "bots," provide a new revenue stream, and further his goal of turning Twitter into a payment platform, similar to his vision for X.com, where people can send money, tip, and pay for stories, music, and video content. Howery and Nosek liked this idea because they had worked with Musk at PayPal.
"It would realize my original vision for X.com and PayPal," Musk said with a smile.
The next day, Musk's brother Kimbal told him over lunch that it would be best to launch a new blockchain-based social media platform. Musk was interested in the idea and went into a flurry of excitement. Half-jokingly, he said maybe it could have a payment system using Dogecoin (DOGE), a semi-serious cryptocurrency that Musk had been quietly funding for development. After lunch, he sent Kimbal several texts detailing the idea of "a blockchain-based social media system that can facilitate payments and enable messaging like Twitter."
Then he flew to Lanai Island, Hawaii, for a quiet date with Natasha Bassett, an Australian actress he occasionally dated. But Musk didn't treat it as a casual mini-vacation; instead, he spent four days pondering how to handle Twitter.
Most of the first night, Musk struggled to fall asleep, troubled by the issues facing Twitter. When he looked at the list of users with the most followers, he noticed they were no longer very active. So at 3:32 a.m. Hawaii Time, he tweeted, "Are most 'top' accounts inactive now & hardly tweet? Is Twitter dying?"
About 90 minutes later, Twitter CEO Agrawal sent Musk a text message: "You're free to tweet 'Is Twitter dying?' or anything else about Twitter, but I feel obligated to tell you it doesn't help me make Twitter better in the current environment." It was a restrained message, worded carefully.
When Musk received the text, it was just past 5 am in Hawaii, but he was still full of energy. He responded harshly, "What have you done this week? I won't join the board, it's a waste of time, and I will propose taking Twitter private."
Agrawal was shocked. "Can we talk about this?" he asked with a mournful tone.
Parag Agrawal, pictured in July 2022, was the CEO of Twitter when Musk acquired the company. Photo credit: KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES
Within three minutes, Taylor, the chairman of the Twitter board, texted Musk, requesting a similar conversation. "Can you give me five minutes to understand what's going on?" he asked Musk.
Musk's "One Proposal"
Musk said that when he arrived in Hawaii, he realized clearly that he couldn't fix, or transform Twitter into X.com, by joining the board: "I decided I didn't want to be coaxed into being a board member, nor did I want to be some kind of appeaser in the board." There was another factor. Musk was emotionally restless and acted impulsively at the time.
As usual, his thoughts fluctuated dramatically with his emotions. While he was aggressively pursuing the acquisition of Twitter, he was also texting with Kimbal about their idea of starting a new social media company. "I think we need a new social media company based on blockchain and with payment functionality," he wrote.
But later that afternoon (Saturday, April 9), he still chose the idea of acquiring Twitter. "It has a certain user base and needs this booster to kickstart X.com," he texted his private business manager Birchall.
Subsequently, Musk flew to Vancouver to meet his on-and-off girlfriend Claire Boucher, an artist known as "Grimes." She had been urging Musk to come see her so she could introduce their son, X (yes, X), to her parents and elderly grandparents. But when she was about to drive to see her parents, she decided to leave Musk at the hotel. "I could tell he was in stress mode," she said.
Indeed. Later that afternoon, Musk texted Taylor, the chairman of the Twitter board, to convey his formal decision. "After days of careful consideration - and this clearly being a serious issue - I have decided to continue with the privatization of Twitter," he said.
That night, Grimes, Elon Musk's girlfriend, returned to the hotel and found Musk immersed in a new video game called "Alden's Ring" to relax. He downloaded the game onto his laptop. The game features carefully crafted mysterious clues and a strange and convoluted plot, requiring players to pay high levels of concentration, especially when calculating their attacks. Musk spent a lot of time in the game's most dangerous areas. "He didn't sleep," Grimes said, "he played until 5:30 in the morning."
Shortly after finishing the game, Musk tweeted, "I made an offer."
On October 26, 2022, just before the completion of the acquisition deal, Musk playfully walked into Twitter headquarters carrying a water tank. Photo credit: Musk's personal Twitter account.
Subsequently, Musk began seeking external investors to help fund the acquisition. He asked his brother Kimbal, but Kimbal declined. The fundraising plan found greater success under the leadership of Oracle founder Lawrence Joseph "Larry" Ellison. "Yes, of course," Ellison replied when Musk asked him if he was interested in investing in the deal.
"About how much can you provide?" Musk asked. "I don't ask you to do anything, but this deal is already oversubscribed, so I need to reduce or kick out some participants."
"One billion," Ellison said, "or you name the amount."
Ellison hasn't tweeted in ten years. In fact, he doesn't remember his Twitter password, so Musk had to personally reset it for him. But Ellison believes Twitter is important. "It's a real-time news service, and there's nothing better than it. If you agree that it's important for democracy, then I think it's worth investing in."
"My bullshit detector goes off like a red alert"
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was one of the people eager to get involved in the deal. He is the founder of the cryptocurrency trading platform FTX, but his reputation soon took a hit. Morgan Stanley urged Musk to call SBF, stating that he would be "responsible for the integration of social media and blockchain", and would invest $5 billion in the acquisition.
Although the idea of building a social network on the blockchain had been discussed with Kimbal, Musk believed this approach was too slow and couldn't support the fast-paced nature of Twitter posts. So he didn't want to meet with SBF. When his banker insisted, reiterating that SBF "can pay $5 billion", Musk responded directly with a "dislike" emoji to the information. "Blockchain Twitter is impossible because peer-to-peer networks cannot support such high bandwidth and latency requirements," Musk said. He indicated that he might meet with SBF at some point, as long as he wouldn't have to engage in a grueling blockchain debate.
In December 2022, Musk rejected a proposal from FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who messaged Musk saying he was "very excited about what [they were] going to do with TWTR." Photo source: KENNY WASSUS / The Wall Street Journal
SBF subsequently messaged Musk directly, saying he was "very excited about what [they were] going to do with TWTR." SBF mentioned that he owned $100 million worth of Twitter stock, which would convert to shares in the new company if Musk were to privatize it.
"Who sent this message?" Musk replied to the text. When SBF apologized and introduced himself, Musk responded briefly, saying, "You're welcome, glad to have you on board."
Musk's attitude led to a follow-up call from SBF in May. "My BS detector went off like a Geiger counter into the red," Musk said. SBF started speaking rapidly, all about himself. "He was speaking as if on a sprint, a mile a minute," Musk said. "I thought he was going to ask me questions about the deal, but he just kept telling me what he was doing. I was like, 'Dude, chill out.'" However, the feeling was mutual, as SBF also thought Musk seemed crazy, and the call lasted half an hour, with SBF ultimately not investing.
Completion of the Acquisition
Musk successfully raised the funds, and Twitter's board accepted his plan at the end of April. That night, instead of celebrating, Musk flew to the Starbase rocket launch site in southern Texas. There, he attended a routine nighttime meeting about redesigning the Raptor engine and spent over an hour contemplating how to address the unexplained methane leaks they were encountering. The news of Twitter was the hottest topic in the world, but SpaceX engineers knew Musk liked to focus on the task at hand, so no one mentioned it. Then he ran into Kimbal at a roadside café in Brownsville, where local musicians played. They stayed there until 2 a.m., sitting at a table in front of the stage, just listening to the music.
In April 2023, SpaceX Starship rocket took off for testing at Boca Chica in Texas, USA. Photo source: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
During the months between reaching a trading agreement and formalizing the deal, Musk's emotions fluctuated greatly. "I am very excited for the final realization of X.com, as it should be, using Twitter as a catalyst!"
A few days later, he became even more downcast. "I need to live at Twitter headquarters, the situation here is too difficult to handle, it really frustrates me, I can’t sleep there at all." Musk expressed doubts about accepting such a chaotic challenge. "I have a bad habit of being too greedy," Musk admitted in a lengthy conversation. "I think I just need to think less about Twitter."
A whistleblower and other revelations made him even more convinced that Twitter had lied about its actual number of users and that his initially proposed $44 billion offer was too high. He wanted a more appropriate transaction price. Throughout September, he had three to four calls with lawyers every day. Sometimes he would become emotionally agitated, insisting that they could defeat the lawsuit filed by Twitter in Delaware. "They are throwing bricks at the trash can they are in fire," he said of the Twitter board. "I can't believe the judge will approve this deal smoothly, it won't be accepted by the public."
In the end, Musk's lawyer convinced him that if they took the case to court, he would definitely lose, so it would be best to complete the transaction according to the original terms. By then, Musk had even regained some enthusiasm for taking over the company. "I would say I should pay a premium because the people running Twitter are fools and idiots, Twitter has so much potential, and there are many things I can solve." Ultimately, Musk agreed to formally complete the transaction in October.
On October 27, 2022, Musk celebrated the completion of the Twitter deal with a bottle of Pappy van Winkle bourbon. Photo credit: WALTER ISAACSON
"All these damn birds have to go"
Musk planned to visit Twitter in San Francisco on Wednesday, October 26, to explore and prepare for the official completion of the deal scheduled for Friday. As he wandered around the headquarters, he seemed surprised. The headquarters is located in a 10-story Art Deco-style building dating back to 1937, formerly a commodity market, which has been renovated with a tech-chic style, including a coffee bar, yoga room, gym, and game room. The spacious cafeteria on the ninth floor offers free meals, ranging from handmade burgers to vegan salads. The slogan on the bathroom reads "Gender diversity is welcome here." As Musk browsed through cabinets filled with Twitter-branded merchandise, he found a T-shirt that said "Stay Woke" and waved it as an example, believing that this mentality had infected the company.
There were fundamental differences between Twitter and Musk's vision of the metaverse. Twitter prides itself on being a friendly platform, where coddling is considered a virtue. "We absolutely have a high level of empathy, a deep concern for inclusivity and diversity; everyone needs to feel safe here," said Leslie Berland, who served as Chief Marketing and People Officer before being fired by Musk. The company has implemented permanent work-from-home options and allows for a monthly "mental health day." "Psychological safety" is one of the company's catchphrases. Be careful not to cause discomfort.
When Musk heard the term "psychological safety," he chuckled and couldn't agree. He believed it to be the enemy of urgency and progress. His favorite buzzword is "hardcore." He believes that discomfort is a good thing, a weapon against complacency. Holidays, work-life balance, and "mental breaks" are not his concern.
He first found it amusing, then grew disgusted by the ubiquitous iconic blue bird logo within the Twitter company. Musk is not a lively person; he prefers darkness and stormy drama over cheerful and light-hearted chitchat. "All these damn birds have to go," he told a mid-level manager.
Twitter's transaction was originally scheduled to be completed on Friday. An orderly transition had been planned for when the stock market opened in the morning. Funds would be transferred, stocks would be delisted, and Musk would gain control. This would allow Agrawal and his senior Twitter executives to receive severance packages and stock options.
But Musk had other plans. On the afternoon of the scheduled closing day, he carefully orchestrated a jujitsu maneuver: he would force a rapid closure that evening. If his lawyers and bankers timed everything correctly, he could "justifiably" fire Agrawal and the other Twitter executives before their stock options vested.
The new X logo on the roof of Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco on July 29, 2023. Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
This was audacious, even ruthless. But Musk believed it was justified because he felt misled by Twitter's management. Later on Thursday afternoon, as the plan was set in motion, Musk told everyone, "There's a $200 million delta in the cookie jar if we close tonight and reopen tomorrow morning."
At 4:12 PM Pacific Time, once they confirmed the transfer of funds, Musk pulled the trigger to complete the transaction. It was at that moment his assistant handed Agrawal and his three senior executives termination letters. Six minutes later, Musk's senior security officer entered the second-floor conference room, declaring that everyone had "exited" the building and their access to emails had been severed.
Immediate email cutoff was part of the plan. Agrawal had prepared a resignation letter citing the change in control. But it took him a few minutes to send the document to Gmail after his Twitter email was cut off. By then, he had already been fired by Musk.
"He tried to resign," Musk said.
"But we beat him to it," replied his gun-for-hire lawyer, Alex Shapiro.
