Book: Musk bought Twitter to block account
Elon Musk’s unexpected takeover bid for Twitter traces back to a feud with a Florida college student, according to a new book recounting the chaotic ordeal.
The Tesla CEO’s hyperfocus on acquiring the San Francisco-based social media giant intensified after Parag Agrawal, its former CEO, rejected Musk’s request to block an account run by 21-year-old Jack Sweeney that used publicly available data to track Musk’s private jet.
“The billionaire started buying Twitter shares shortly after Agrawal denied his request,” according to an excerpt from “Battle for the Bird” by Bloomberg reporter Kurt Wagner. The book suggests that Musk’s motivation to ban the jet-tracking account was the primary driver behind the $44 billion purchase in November 2022, which left many industry analysts perplexed.
Sweeney, who operated the @ElonJet account, manages several similar feeds on various social media platforms, tracking the private jets of various notable figures, including Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Kylie Jenner.
In December, Swift’s lawyers issued a ceaseand-desist letter to Sweeney, demanding he shut down the accounts @TaylorSwiftJets on various platforms, citing safety concerns for their client.
Sweeney has defended his activities, claiming they are legal and based on collecting and sharing publicly available information from federally mandated flight broadcasts by private jets, a method commonly used by hobbyists to monitor flight paths.
Musk initially cited “free speech” as the primary motivation behind the Twitter acquisition, pledging not to ban Sweeney’s account. However, a month after the deal closed, Musk suspended @ElonJet. Sweeney continues operating the feed on other platforms such as Threads, BlueSky and Mastodon.
Twitter, now known as X, lost 71.5% of its value since the acquisition, according to a report issued last month by mutual fund Fidelity.
In the first year postMusk takeover, the monthly user count also dropped by 15%, according to web analytics provider Similarweb. attributed to an increase in hate speech on the platform. Advertising revenue has also dropped substantially.
Over the weekend, Musk faced another setback, as a federal judge ordered him to testify in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe related to the Twitter acquisition.
The agency is investigating potential securities fraud during the period when Musk began purchasing Twitter stock leading up to the leveraged buyout in 2022.
Musk, who has persistently resisted the SEC’s attempts to interview him, argued that he was being harassed.
But U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler dismissed his claim on Saturday, asserting the SEC has the authority to issue the subpoena for information that is pertinent to the case.