Twitter

[weijian]

An interesting read about the author suggesting Twitter how to monetize its user base (the "in" thing now) and also change the narrative ("subscription-based", "XXXX as a service", "ecosystem"...fill in all the buzz words you can!).

How Twitter Got Its Groove Back

That’s what happened with Snap. It’s what happened with Spotify, when it changed the narrative from “structurally low margin music business” to “leading audio company” in the stroke of a few podcast deals. It’s what would have happened with Slack (I swear!) before Salesforce saw the potential and snatched it up.

And, I think, it’s what’s going to happen to Twitter.

https://www.notboring.co/p/how-twitter-g...roove-back

[Wildreamz]

Twitter hit all time high yesterday, while most of tech and stocks are down. Last quarter they grew revenues by 28% to an all time high of $3.7bil TTM, and guide to grow 22.5% next quarter (at mid point of guidance). I mean, there is a lot to like about Twitter's fundamentals right now.

Kudos to investors who saw this early.

(not invested)

[weijian]

Now that Jack Dorsey has left, would we be able to see Twitter realizing its potential?

Fintwit's Tipping Point?

I was thinking about why Twitter, after rallying with other COVID lockdown beneficiaries (take ARKK and QQQ as proxies), had given back all of its gains. This despite the fact that daily active users increased from 152 million at the end of 2019 to 217 million at the end of 2021.

Perhaps Twitter will never turn into a great business and figure out how to turn attention into highly profitable commerce like other social platforms. Or perhaps it will find a way to better monetize the flow of ideas and data on its platform. Either way, it strikes me that Twitter should have become a lot more valuable for its users.

https://neckar.substack.com/p/fintwits-t...-point?s=r

[cyclone]

Apollo Global Management is willing to finance a Twitter buyout, sources say
* Private equity firm Apollo Global Management would consider providing financing for a Twitter buyout in the form of preferred equity, sources say.
* But Apollo isn’t interested in joining a private equity consortium to acquire the social media company, sources added.
* Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the world’s wealthiest person, offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion last week.

By Alex Sherman
PUBLISHED MON, APR 18 20225:25 PM EDTUPDATED MON, APR 18 20225:51 PM EDT

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management has held discussions about financing a potential takeover for Twitter, according to sources familiar with the matter.

But Apollo isn’t interested in being part of a private equity consortium that would acquire the social media company, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Any financing Apollo provides would likely come in the form of preferred equity, one of the people said.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the world’s wealthiest person, offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion last week. Twitter’s board is likely to reject that offer, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Still, sources of financing are considering their willingness to lend to Musk or another potential buyer, said the people. Twitter had negative cash flow last year, making it an unusual candidate for a leveraged buyout.

More details in https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/18/apollo-g...urces.html

[cyclone]

Elon Musk says Twitter deal on hold pending details on fake accounts; shares sink 11%
* Twitter’s stock plummeted 18% in premarket trading following the initial announcement, but trimmed some losses after the second tweet.
* Musk announced last month that he intends to buy Twitter for $44 billion.
* He’s tweeted that one of his main priorities would be to remove “spam bots” from the platform.

Sam Shead
PUBLISHED FRI, MAY 13 20225:56 AM EDT | UPDATED 28 MIN AGO

Elon Musk announced Friday that his Twitter deal is on hold until he receives more information about how many fake accounts there are on the social media platform.

In a follow-up tweet around two hours later, Musk added that he was “still committed to the acquisition.”

Twitter’s stock plummeted 18% in premarket trading following the initial announcement, but trimmed some losses after the second tweet. A spokesperson for the social media company did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Tesla CEO Musk announced last month that he intends to buy Twitter for $44 billion and he’s previously tweeted that one of his main priorities would be to remove “spam bots” from the platform.

Even before Friday’s announcement, the company’s market value had fallen to $9 billion beneath the offer price due to concerns about the deal.

Musk, who is expected to serve as Twitter’s temporary CEO if the deal goes ahead, would have to pay a $1 billion breakup fee should he choose to walk away. Musk is worth more than $220 billion.

More details in https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/13/elon-mus...ounts.html

[weijian]

After willing commercial space rockets into existence and making battery powered cars viable, I guess Elon Musk can't go too wrong!

But maybe he will be wrong because it will just takes 1 to 3 years!

Elon Musk Reveals Plan to Fold Twitter Into ‘X,’ a Super-App Modeled After China’s WeChat

“Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app,” he said. And there it is: Quite possibly the real reason Musk threw down $44 billion for the social-media app.

“Twitter probably accelerates X by 3 to 5 years,” Musk tweeted as a follow-up, “but I could be wrong.”

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-reve...08422.html

[weijian]

No surprises because there will probably be a lot Tesla bleeding hearts hoping for Musk to refocus back to the electric car manufacturer and hopefully stem the dropping share price.

Musk poll on stepping down as Twitter chief leans toward ‘Yes’

With about four hours left and 14 million votes cast, 57 per cent of participants have said yes. The billionaire owner of Twitter and chief executive officer of Tesla will abide by the results of the poll, he pledged in a tweet on Sunday (Dec 18). Three of the top trending topics in the US overnight were about the platform itself, including “VOTE YES” and “CEO of Twitter.”

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/compani...toward-yes

[EnSabahNur]

It is possible he won't step down. He is already responding to tweets suggesting that the poll was rigged by bots and voting should be restricted to paid users only.

[EnSabahNur]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/29/techn...=url-share

What’s Gone at Twitter? A Data Center, Janitors, Some Toilet Paper.
Early on Christmas Eve, members of the billionaire’s staff flew to Sacramento — the site of one of Twitter’s three main computing storage facilities — to disconnect servers that had kept the social network running smoothly. Some employees were worried that losing those servers could cause problems, but saving money was the priority, according to two people who were familiar with the move but not authorized to talk about it.

The data center shutdown was one of many drastic steps Mr. Musk has undertaken to stabilize Twitter’s finances. Over the past few weeks, Twitter had stopped paying millions of dollars in rent and services, and Mr. Musk had told his subordinates to renegotiate those agreements or simply end them. The company has stopped paying rent at its Seattle office, leading it to face eviction, two people familiar with the matter said. Janitorial and security services have been cut, and in some cases employees have resorted to bringing their own toilet paper to the office.

[EnSabahNur]

This is a good summary of the events so far within Twitter

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/..._source=tw