Twitter v. Elon Musk Court Filing by Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP, July 12, 2022 is part of
Feature Image: HackerNoon’s Midjourney AI, Prompt “surround yourself with only yes men”
Highly Confidential
Presumably Alex just helped Musk with Tech Support.
Antonio Gracias’s a VC, Former Tesla Director (tenure ended in 2021)
Antonio Gracias: Wow...I saw your tweet re free speech. Wtf is going on Elon...
Elon: EU passed a law banning Russia Today and several other Russian news sources. We have been told to block their IP address.
Elon: Actually, I find their news quite entertaining
Elon: Lot of bullshit, but some good points too
Antonio: This is fucking nuts...you are totally right. I 100% agree with you.
Elon: We should allow it precisely bc we hate it...that is the ping of the American constitution.
Antonio: Exactly
Elon: Free speech matters mast when it's someone you hate spouting what you think is bullshit.
Antonio: I am 100% with you Elon. To the fucking mattresses no matter what .....this is a principle we need to fucking defend with our lives or we are lost to the darkness.
Antonio: Sorry for the swearing. I am getting excited.
Elon: ["loved" "I am 100%..."]
Elon: [2022-04-26] On a call. Free in 3O mins.
Antonio: Ok. I'll call you in 30
Talulah Riley is a Canadian actress and Musk’s ex-wife from his 2nd & 3rd marriage.
Talulah Riley: can you buy Twitter and then delete it, please!? xx
Talulah Riley: America is going INSANE.
Talulah Riley: The Babylon Bee got suspension is crazy. Raiyah and I were talking about it today. It was a fucking joke. Why has everyone become so puritanical?
Talulah Riley: Or can you buy Twitter and make it radically free-speech?
Talulah Riley: So much stupidity comes from Twitter xx
Elon: Maybe buy it and change it to properly support free speech xx
Elon: ["liked" "Or can you buy Twitter..."]
Talulah Riley: I honestly think social media is the scourge of modern life, and the worst of all is Twitter, because it's also a news stream as well as a social platform, and so has more real-world standing than Tik Tok etc. But it's very easy to exploit and is being used by radicals for social engineering on a massive scale. And this shit is infecting the world. Please do do something to fight woke-ism. I will do anything to help! xx
Joe Lonsdale = Founder of Palantir, is not a big fan of tax the rich.
Joe Lonsdale : I love your "Twitter algorithm should be open source" tweet -I'm actually speaking to over 100 members of congress tomorrow at the GOP policy retreat and this is one of the ideas I'm pushing for reigning in crazy big tech. Now I can cite you so I'll sound less crazy myself :). Our public squares need to not have arbitrary sketchy censorship.
Elon: ["liked" above]
Elon: Absolutely
Elon: What we have right now is hidden corruption!
Joe: ["loved" above]
[2022-04-04]: Joe: Excited to see the stake in Twitter -awesome. "Back door man" they are saying haha. Hope you're able to influence it. I bet you the board doesn't even get full reporting or see any report of the censorship decisions and little cabals going on there but they should -the lefties on the board likely want plausible deniability !
Elon: ["liked" above]
[2022-04-16] Joe: Haha even Governor DeSantis just called me just now with ideas how to help you and outraged at that board and saying the public is rooting for you. Let me know if you or somebody on your side wants to chat w him. Would be fun to see you if you guys are around this weekend or the next few days.
Elon: Haha cool
Jack Dorsey is a co-founder and former CEO of Twitter
Jack Dorsey: Yes, a new platform is needed. It can't be a company. This is why I left.
jack: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1507777913042571267?s,=20&t=8z3h0h0JGSnt86Zuxd61Wg
Elon: Ok
Elon: What should it look like?
jack: I believe it must be an open source protocol, funded by a foundation of sorts that doesn't own the protocol, only advances it. A bit like what Signal has done. It can't have an advertising model. Otherwise you have surface area that governments and advertisers will try to influence and control. If it has a centralized entity behind it, it will be attacked. This isn't complicated work, it just has to be done right so it's resilient to what has happened to twitter.
Elon: Super interesting idea
jack: I'm off the twitter board mid May and then completely out of company. I intend to do this work and fix our mistakes. Twitter started as a protocol. It should have never been a company. That was the original sin.
Elon: I'd like to help if I am able to
jack: I wanted to talk with you about it after I was all clear, because you care so much, get it's importance, and could def help in immeasurable ways. Back when we had the activist come in, I tried my hardest to get you on our board, and our board said no. That's about the time I decided I needed to work to leave, as hard as it was for me.
Elon: ["loved" above]
jack: Do you have a moment to talk?
Elon: Bout to head out to dinner but can for a minute
jack: I think the main reason is the board is just super risk averse and saw adding you as more risk, which I thought was completely stupid and backwards, but I only had one vote, and 3% of company, and no dual class shares. Hard set up. We can discuss more.
Elon: Let's definitely discuss more
Elon: I think it's worth both trying to move Twitter in a better direction and doing something new that's decentralized
jack: It's likely the best option. I just have doubts. But open
Elon: ["liked above]
Egon Durban was one of the Twitter directors who also runs a private equity firm
Elon to Egon Durban: This is Elon. Please call when you have a moment.
Elon: It is regarding the Twitter board.
Egon: Have follow-up. Let's chat today whenever convenient for you.
Larry Ellison is the CEO of Oracle
Larry Ellison: Elon, I'd like to chat with you in the next day or so ... I do think we need another Twitter 👍
Elon: Want to talk now?
Larry: Sure.
[2022-04-17] Elon: Any interest in participating in the Twitter deal?
Larry: Yes ... of course 👍
Elon: Cool
Elon: Roughly what dollar size? Not holding you to anything, but the deal is oversubscribed, so I have to reduce or kick out some participants.
Larry: A billion ... or whatever you recommend
Elon: Whatever works for you. I'd recommend maybe $2B or more. This has very high potential and I'd rather have you than anyone else.
Larry: I agree that it has huge potential... and it would be lots of fun
Elon: Absolutely:)
[2022-04-26] Larry: Since you think I should come in for at least $2B... I'm in for $2B 👍
Elon: Haha thankss:)
Brett Taylor is CEO of Salesforce and Chairman of Twitter Board in March 2022
In March 2022, they were all part of Twitter Board. Egon Durban is in Private Equity, Martha Spurrier advocates for human rights and was chair of Nominating/Governance (NomGov), Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and CEO of Salesforce, Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO.
Egon: Hi everyone Parag (Ceo), Bret (Chairman) and Martha (head of gov) -You are connected w Elon. He is briefed on my conversations w you. Elon -everyone excited about prospect of you being involved and on board. Next step is for you to chat w three of them so we can move this forward quickly. Maybe we can get this done next few days🤞
Elon: Thanks Egon
Parag: Hey Elon - great to be connected directly. Would love to chat! Parag
Martha: Hey Elon, I'm Martha chair of Twitter nomgov- know you've talked to Bret and parag - keen to have a chat when you have time - im in Europe (also hope covid not too horrible as I hear you have it)
Parag: Look forward to meeting soon! Can you let us know when you are able to meet in the Bay Area in the next couple of days?
Martha: Hey Elon, I'm Martha chair of Twitter nomgov - know you've talked to Bret and parag -I'm v keen to have a chat when you have time - im in Europe but will make anything work
Elon: Sounds good. Perhaps a call late tonight central time works? I'm usually up until ~3am.
Martha: If ok with you I'll try you 10am CET (8am PST) looking forward to meeting you
Elon: Sure
Martha: Thanks v much for the time Elon -pls let us know who in your office our GC can talk to -sleep well!
Elon: You're most welcome. Great to talk!
Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO, after Jack Dorsey
Parag: Would love to talk. Please let me know what time works - I'm super flexible. -Parag
Elon: Perhaps tonight around 8?
Parag: That works! Look forward to talking.
Elon: ["liked" above]
Elon: Just finishing a Tesla Autopilot engineering call
Parag: ["liked" above]
Bradley Jabour is a radiologist
"Dr Jabour": Hi E, Pain settling down? Time for a latter-day Guttenburg to bring back free speech ..... and buy Twitter.
[2022-04-04] Elon: ["liked" above]
[2022-04-24] Jabour: Hi E, looks like a TWITTER board member scurrying around unbalanced trying to deal with your offer.... Am loving your tactics, ( vid taken from my house on Monica beach)-Brad
Elon: ["loved" above]
Will MacAskill is an Oxford Professor - his research focuses on Effective Altruism
Will MacAskill: Hey - I saw your poll on twitter about Twitter and free speech. I'm not sure if this is what's on your mind, but my collaborator Sam Bankman-Fried (https://www.forbes.com/profile/sam-bankman-fried/?sh=4de9866a4449) has for a while been potentially interested in purchasing it and then making it better for the world. If you want to talk with him about a possible joint effort in that direction, his number is [redacted] and he's on Signal.
Elon: Does he have huge amounts of money?
Will: Depends on how you define "huge"! He's worth $24B, and his early employees (with shared values) bump that to $30B. I asked about how much he could in principle contribute and he said: "~$1-3b would be easy-$3-8b I could do ~$8-15b is maybe possible but would require financing"
Will: If you were interested to discuss the idea I asked and he said he'd be down to meet you in Austin
Will: He's based in the Bahamas normally. And I might visit Austin next week, if you'd be around?
Will: That's a start
Will: Would you like me to intro you two via text?
Elon: You vouch for him?
Will: Very much so! Very dedicated to making the long-term future of humanity go well
Elon: Ok then sure
Will: Great! Will use Signal
Will: (Signal doesn't work; used imessage instead)
Elon: Ok
Will: And in case you want to get a feel for Sam, here's the Apr 1st tweet from his foundation, the Future Fund, which I'm advising on -I thought you might like it:
Will: https://twitter.com/ftxfuturefund/status/1509924452422717440?s=20&t=0qjM58KUj49xSGa0qae97Q
Will: And here's the actual (more informative) launch tweet· moving $100M-$1B this year to improve the future of humanity:
Will: https://twitter.com/ftxfuturefund/status/1498350483206860801
Mathias Döpfner is a billionaire who owns a media group
Mathias Döpfner: Why don't you buy Twitter? We run it for you. And establish a true platform of free speech. Would be a real contribution to democracy.
Elon: Interesting idea
Mathias: I'm serious. It's doable. Will be fun.
[2022-04-04] Mathias: Congrats to the Twitter invest! Fast execution 🤩 Shall we discuss wether we should join that project? I was serious with my suggestion.
Elon: Sure, happy to talk
Mathias: I am going to miami tomorrow for a week. Shall we speak then or Wednesday and take it from there?
Elon: Sure
[2022-04-06] Mathias: A short call about Twitter?
Mathias: # Status Quo: It is the de facto public town square, but it is a problem that it does not adhere to free speech principles. => so the core product is pretty good, but (i) it does not serve democracy, and (ii) the current business model is a dead end as reflected by flat share price. # Goal: Make Twitter the global backbone of free speech, an open market place of ideas that truly complies with the spirit of the first amendment and shift the business model to a combination of ad-supported and paid to support quality # Game Plan: 1.),,Solve Free Speech" 1a) Step 1: Make it censorship-FREE by radically reducing Terms of Services (now hundreds of pages) to the following: Twitter users agree to: (1) Use our service to send spam or scam users, (2) Promote violence, (3) Post illegal pornography. 🙃 1b) Step 2: Make Twitter censorship-RESISTANT • Ensure censorship resistance by implementing measures that warrant that Twitter can't be censored long term, regardless of which government and management • How? Keep pushing projects at Twitter that have been working on developing a decentralized social network protocol (e.g., BlueSky). It's not easy, but the backend must run on decentralized infrastructure, APls should become open (back to the roots! Twitter started and became big with open APIs). • Twitter would be one of many clients to post and consume content. • Then create a marketplace for algorithms, e.g., if you're a snowflake and don't want content that offends you pick another algorithm. 2.) ,,Solve Share Price" Current state of the business: • Twitters ad revenues grow steadily and for the time being, are sufficient to fund operations. • MAUs are flat, no structural growth • Share price is flat, no confidence in the existing business model and/or
[2022-04-14] Mathias: Our editor of Die Welt just gave an interview why he left Twitter. What he is criticising is exactly what you most likely want to change. I am thrilled to discuss twitters future when you are ready. So exciting.
Elon: Interesting!
In March 2022, Brett Taylor & Parag Agrawal were all part of Twitter Board. Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce, Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO. Jehn is presumably, Jehn Balajadia - COO of the Boring Company
Elon: I land in San Jose tomorrow around 2pm and depart around midnight. My Tesla meetings are flexible, so I can meet anytime in those 10 hours.
Bret: By "tomorrow" do you mean Thursday or Friday?
Elon: Today
Parag: I can make any time in those 10 hours work.
Bret: I land in Oakland at 8:30pm. Perhaps we can meet at 9:30pm somewhere? I am working to see if I can move up my flight from NYC to land earlier in the meantime
Bret: Working on landing earlier and landing in San Jose so we can have dinner near you. Will keep you both posted in real time
Bret: Ok, successfully moved my flight to land at 6:30pm in San Jose. Working on a place we can meet privately
Elon: Sounds good
Elon: Crypto spam on Twitter really needs to get crushed. It's a major blight on the user experience and they scam so many innocent people.
Bret: It sounds like we are confirming 7pm at a private residence near San Jose. Our assistants reached out to Jehn on logistics. Let me know if either of you have any concerns or want to move things around. Looking forward to our conversation.
Parag: Works for me. Excited to see you both in person!
Elon: Jehn had a baby and I decided to try having no assistant for a few months
Elon: Likewise
Bret: The address is [redacted
]
Bret: Does 7pm work for you Elon?
Elon: Probably close to that time. Might only be able to get there by 7:30, but will try for earlier.
Bret: Sounds good. I am going to be a bit early because my plane is landing earlier but free all evening so we can start whenever you get there and Parag and I can catch up in the meantime
Bret: This wins for the weirdest place I've had a meeting recently. I think they were looking for an airbnb near the airport and there are tractors and donkeys 🤷
Elon: Haha awesome
Elon: Maybe Airbnb's algorithm thinks you love tractors and donkeys (who doesn't!)
Elon: On my way. There in about 15 mins.
Bret: And abandoned trucks in case we want to start a catering business after we meet
Elon: Sounds like a post-apocalyptic movie set
Bret: Basically yes
Elon: Great dinner:)
Bret: Really great. The donkeys and dystopian surveillance helicopters added to the ambiance
Elon: Definitely one for the memory books haha
Parag: Memorable for multiple reasons. Really enjoyed it
Will MacAskill is an Oxford Professor - his research focuses on Effective Altruism Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was CEO of crypto exchange FTX.
Will: Hey, here's introducing you both, Sam and Elon. You both have interests in games, making the very long-run future go well, and buying Twitter. So I think you'd have a good conversation!
Sam: Great to meet you Elon-happy to chat about Twitter (or other things) whenever!
Elon: Hi!
Elon: Maybe we can talk later today? I'm in Germany.
Sam: I'm on EST-could talk sometime between 7pm and 10pm Germany time today?
Jared Birchall is CEO of Neurallink and Elon Musk’s right-hand man. Martha Spurrier advocates for human rights and was chair of Nominating/Governance (NomGov) at Twitter
Elon: Connecting Martha (Twitter Norn/Gov) with Jared (runs my family office).
Elon: Jared, there is important paperwork to be done to allow for me to hopefully join the Twitter board.
Martha: Thanks Elon - appreciate this - hi Jared - I'm going to put Sean Edgett in touch with you who is GC at Twitter
Jared: Sounds good. Please have him call anytime or send the docs to my email: [...]
Martha: 👍
Martha: Elon - are you available to chat for 5 mins?
Martha: I'd like to relay the board we just finished
Elon: Sure
[2022-04-04] Martha: Morning elon -you woke up to quite a storm.... Great to hear from Bret that you agree we can move this along v quickly today -Jared, I'm assuming it's you I should send the standstill they discussed to you? It will be the same as egon and silverlake undertook. Let me know if should go to someone else - we're really keen to get this done in next couple of hours. Thank you
Elon: You can send to both of us
Elon: Sorry, I just woke up when Bret called! I arrived from Berlin around 4am.
Martha: No apologies necessary. Let's How would you like it sent? If by email, pis let me know where
Elon: Text or email
Elon: My email is [redacted]
Martha: 👍
Martha: <Attachment-application/vnd.openxmlformatsofficedocument.wordprocessingml.document-Twitter Cooperation Agreement-Draft April 4 2022.docx>
Martha: Here it is -also gone by email Same as Egon's but even more pared back
Martha: Just copying you both to confirm sent agreement-v keen to get this done quickly as per your conversation
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Bret: Just spoke to Martha. Let me know when you have time to talk today or tomorrow. Sounds like you are about to get on a flight — flexible
Elon: Sounds good. I'm just about to take off from Berlin to Austin, but free to talk anytime tomorrow.
Bret: I am free all day. Text when you are available. Planning to take a hike with my wife and that is the only part where my reception may be spotty. Looking forward to speaking. And looking forward to working with you!
Elon: ["liked" above]
Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO
Parag: I expect you heard from Martha and Bret already. I'm super excited about the opportunity and look forward to working closely and finding ways to use your time as effectively as possible to improve Twitter and the public conversation.
Elon: Sounds great!
Jack Dorsey was CEO of Twitter and is its cofounder
jack: I heard good things are happening
Elon: ["liked" above]
Ken Griffin is a hedge fund manager and CEO of Citadel
Ken Griffin: Love it !!
Elon: ["liked" above]
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Name Redacted
<> Elon Musk[redacted
]: Congratulations!! The above article ☝️ was laying out some of the things that might happen: Step 1: Blame the platform for its users Step 2. Coordinated pressure campaign Step 3: Exodus of the Bluechecks Step 4: Deplatforming "But it will not be easy. It will be a war. Let the battle begin."
[redacted
]: It will be a delicate game of letting right wingers back on Twitter and how to navigate that (especially the boss himself, if you're up for that) I would also lay out the standards early but have someone who has a savvy cultural/political view to be the VP of actual enforcement
[redacted
]: A Blake Masters type
Egon Durban was one of the Twitter directors who also runs a private equity firm
Egon Durban: Hi -if you have a few moments call anytime? Flying to UK
Elon: Just spoke to Bret. His call woke me up haha. Got it from Berlin at 4am.
Egon: 🙏
[2022-04-17] Elon: You're calling Morgan Stanley to speak poorly of me ...
Jared Birchall is CEO of Neurallink and Elon Musk’s right-hand man
Elon to Jared Birchall: Please talk to Martha about the filing
Jared: ok
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Bret Taylor: Do you have five minutes?
Elon: Sure
Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO
Elon to Parag: Happy to talk if you'd like
Parag: That will be very helpful. Please call me when you have a moment
Elon: Just on the phone with Jared. Will call as soon as that's done.
Parag: ["liked" above]
Kyle is presumably Kyle Mann, editor in chief of Babylon Bee
"Kyle": So can you bust us out of Twitter Jail now lol
Elon: I do not have that ability
Kyle: Lol I know I know. Big move though, love to see it
In April 2022, they were all part of Twitter Board. Egon Durban is in Private Equity, Martha Spurrier advocates for human rights and was chair of Nominating/Governance (NomGov), Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and CEO of Salesforce, Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO.
Elon: Thank you for considering me for the Twitter board, but, after thinking it over, my current time commitments would prevent me from being an effective board member. This may change in the future. Elon
Joe Rogan is a media personality and host of the Joe Rogan Podcast
Joe Rogan: Are you going to liberate Twitter from the censorship happy mob?
Elon: I will provide advice, which they may or may not choose to follow
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Elon: ["laughed at" above]
Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO.
Jared Birchall is CEO of Neurallink and Elon Musk’s right-hand man. Martha Spurrier advocates for human rights and was chair of Nominating/Governance (NomGov) at Twitter
Martha: I'm so thrilled you're joining the board. I apologise about the bump of the first agreement-I'm not a good manager of lawyers. I really look forward to meeting you.
Elon: Thanks Martha, same here.
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Bret: I am excited to work with you and grateful this worked out
Elon: Likewise
Jack Dorsey was CEO of Twitter and is its cofounder
jack: Looks like there's a "verified" account in the swamp of despair over there. https://m.facebook.com/Elonmuskoffifref=nf&pn_ref=story&rc=p (promoting crypto too!)
Elon: Haha
[2022-04-26] jack: I want to make sure Parag is doing everything possible to build towards your goals until close. He is really great at getting things done when tasked with specific direction. Would it make sense for me you and him to get on a call to discuss next steps and get really clear on what's needed? He'd be able to move fast and clear then. Everyone is aligned and this will help even
Elon: Sure
jack: great when is best for you? And please let me know where/ifyou want my help. I just want to make this amazing and feel bound to it
Elon: How about 7pm Central?
Elon: Your help would be much appreciated
Elon: I agreed with everything you said to me
jack: Great! Will set up. I won't let this fail and will do whatever it takes. It's too critical to humanity.
Elon: Absolutely
jack: <Attachment-image/jpeg-Screen Shot 2022-04-26 at 15.05.00.jpeg>
jack: I put together a draft list to make the discussion efficient. Goal is to align around 1) problems we're trying to solve, 2) longterm priorities, 3) short-tenn actions, all using a higher level guide you spoke about. Think about what you'd add/remove. Getting this nailed will increase velocity.
jack: Here's meeting link for 7pm your time
jack: [meeting URL]
Elon: Great list of actions
jack: We're on hangout whenever you're ready. No rush. Just working on refining doc.
Elon: ["liked" above]
Elon: It's asking me for a Google account login
Elon: You and I are in complete agreement. Parag is just moving far too slowly and trying to please people who will not be happy no matter what he does.
jack: At least it became clear that you can't work together. That was clarifying.
Elon: Yeah
Ira Ehrenpreis is a VC
Ira Ehrenpreis: If you plan on joining the Nom/Gov or Comp Committees, lmk and I can give you some tips! Haha! 🤪
Elon: Haha, I didn't even want to join the Twitter board! They pushed really hard to have me join.
Ira: You're a pushover! 😂
Ira: And you already got them to try the edit! Oh yeah... it had already been in the works. Sure.
Elon: It was actually in the works, but I didn't know.
Justin Roiland is the co-creator of Rick & Morty
Justin Roiland: I fucking love that you are majority owner of Twitter. My friends David and Daniel have a program that verifies identity that would be nice to connect to Twitter. As in, if people chose to use it, it could verify that they are a real person and not a troll farm. I should introduce you to them.
Elon: I just own 9% of Twitter, so don't control the company.
Elon: Will raise the identity issue with Parag (CEO).
Gayle King is a media personality, eco-host for CBS Mornings and editor for The Oprah Magazine]
Gayle King : Gayle here! Have you missed me (smile) Are you ready for to doa proper sit down with me so much to discuss! especially with your twitter play ... what do I need to do ???? Ps I like a twitter edit feature with a24 hour time limit ... we all say shit we regret want to take back in the heat of the moment ...
Elon: Twitter edit button is coming
Gayle: The whole Twitter thing getting blown out of proportion
Elon: Owning ~9% is not quite control
Gayle: I never thought that it did ... and I'm not good in math
Elon: Twitter should move more to the center, but Parag already thought that should be the case before I came along.
Elon: ["laughed at" "I never thought..."]
[2022-04-14] Gayle: ELON! You buying twitter or offering to buy twitter Wow! Now Don't you think we should sit down together face to face this is as the kids of today say a "gangsta move" I don't know know how shareholders turn this down .. like I said you are not like the other kids in the class ....
Elon: ["loved above]
[2022-04-18] Elon: Maybe Oprah would be interested in joining the Twitter board if my bid succeeds. Wisdom about humanity and knowing what is right are more important than so-called "board governance" skills, which mean pretty much nothing in my experience.
Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO.
-I think there is a large silent majority that is excited about you bring on the board, so this isn't representative. Happy to talk about it-none of this is a surprise.
Elon: Seedy
Elon: *awesome (damn autocorrect!)
Elon: As expected. Yeah, would be good to sync up. I can talk tomorrow night or anytime this weekend. I love our conversations!
Parag: I'm totally flexible after 530p pacific tomorrow -let me know what works. And yes this is expected -and I think a good thing to move us in a positive direction. Despite the turmoil internally-I think this is very helpful in moving the company forward.
Elon: Awesome!
Elon: I have a ton of ideas, but lmk if I'm pushing too hard. I just want Twitter to be maximum amazing.
Parag: I want to hear all the ideas -and I'll tell you which ones I'll make progress on vs. not. And why.
Parag: And in this phase -just good to spend as much time with you. + have my Product and Eng team talk to you to ingest information on both sides.
Elon: I would like to understand the technical details of the Twitter codebase. This will help me calibrate the dumbness of my suggestions.
Elon: I wrote heavy duty software for 20 years
Parag: I used to be CTO and have been in our codebase for a long time.
Parag: So I can answer many many of your questions.
Elon: I interface way better with engineers who are able to do hardcore programming than with program managero/ MBA types of people.
Elon: ["liked" "I used to be CTO..."]
Elon: 🔥🔥
Parag: in our next convo-treat me like an engineer instead of CEO and lets see where we get to. I'll know after that convo who might be the best engineer to connect you to.
Elon: Frankly, I hate doing mgmt stuff. I kinda don't think anyone should be the boss of anyone. But I love helping solve technical/product design problems.
Elon: You got it!
Parag: Look forward to speaking tomorrow. Do you like calendar invites sent to your email address?
Elon: ["liked" above]
Elon: I already put the two dates on my calendar, but no problem to send me supplementary stuff.
Parag: I'm available starting now if you want to have a chat about engineering at Twitter. Let me know!
Elon: Call in about 45 mins?
Parag ["liked" above]
Elon: Will call back shortly
Elon: <Attachment• image/pngs-Screenshot 2022-04-08 at 10.10.09 PM.png>
Elon: I am so sick of stuff like this
Parag: We should be catching this
Elon: Yeah
Kimbal Musk is Elon Musk’s brother and owns a restaurant
Kimbal Musk: I have an idea for a blockchain social media system that does both payments and short text messages/links like twitter. You have to pay a tiny amount to register your message on the chain, which will cut out the vast majority of spam and bots. There is no throat to choke, so free speech is guaranteed.
Kimbal: The second piece of the puzzle is a massive real-time database that keeps a copy of all blockchain messages in memory, as well as all message sent to or received by you, your followers and those you follow.
Kimbal: Third piece is a twitter-like app on your phone that accessed the database in the cloud.
Kimbal: This could be massive
Kimbal: I'd love to learn more. I've dug deep on Web3 (not crytpo as much} and the voting powers are amazing and verified. Lots you could do here for this as well
Elon: I think a new social media company is needed that is based on a blockchain and includes payments
Kimbal: Would have them pay w a token associated w the service? You'd have to hold the token in your wallet to post. Doesn't have to expensive it will grow over time in value
Kimbal: Blockchain prevents people from deleting tweets. Pros and cons, but let the games begin!
Kimbal: If you did use your own token, you would not needs advertising it's a pay for use service but at a very low price
Kimbal: With scale it will be a huge business purely for the benefit of the users. I hate advertisements
Elon: ["liked" above]
Kimbal: There are some good ads out there. The voting component of interested users (only vote if you want to) could vote on ads that add value. The advertisers would have to stake a much larger amount of tokens, but other than there is no charge for the ads. It will bring out the creatives and the ads can politically incorrect/art/activision/philanthropy
Kimbal: Voting rights could also crowdsource kicking scammers out. It drives me crazy when I see people promoting the scam that you're giving away Bitcoin. Lots of bad people out there
[2022-04-24] Elon: Do you want to participate in the twitter transaction?
Kimbal: Let's discuss tomorrow
Elon: Ok
Kimbal: I can break away from my group a lot of the time. Will text tomorrow afternoon and if you're free we can meet up
Elon: Ok
Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO.
Parag: You are free to tweet "is Twitter dying?" or anything else about Twitter -but it's my responsibility to tell you that it's not helping me make Twitter better in the current context. Next time we speak, I'd like to you provide you perspective on the level of internal distraction right now and how it hurting our ability to do work. I hope the AMA will help people get to know you, to understand why you believe in Twitter, and to trust you -and I'd like the company to get to a place where we are more resilient and don't get distracted, but we aren't there right now.
Elon: What did you get done this week?
Elon: I'm not joining the board. This is a waste of time.
Elon: Will make an offer to take Twitter private.
Parag: Can we talk?
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Bret: Parag just called me and mentioned your text conversation. Can you talk?
Elon: Please expect a take private offer
Bret: I saw the text thread. Do you have five minutes so I can understand the context? I don't currently
Elon: Fixing twitter by chatting with Parag won't work
Elon: Drastic action is needed
Elon: This is hard to do as a public company, as purging fake users will make the numbers look terrible, so restructuring should be done as a private company.
Elon: This is Jack's opinion too.
Bret: Can you take 10 minutes to talk this through with me? It has been about 24 hours since you joined the board. I get your point, but just want to understand about the sudden pivot and make sure I deeply understand your point of view and the path forward
Elon: I'm about to take off, but can talk tomorrow
Bret: Thank you
Bret: Heyo-can you speak this evening? I have seen your tweets and feel more urgency about understanding your path forward
[next day] Bret: Acknowledging your text with Parag yesterday that you are declining to join the board. This will be reflected in our 8-K tomorrow. I've asked our team to share a draft with your family office today. I'm looking forward to speaking today.
Elon: Sounds good
Elon: It is better, in my opinion, to take Twitter private, restructure and return to the public markets once that is done. That was also Jack's view when I talked to him.
Michael Kives is an investor in many of Elon Musk’s companies
Michael Kives: Have any time to see Philippe Laffont in Vancouver tomorrow?
Elon: Maybe
Michael: Any particular time of best?
Michael: any time best?
Elon: What exactly does he want?
Michael: Has some ideas on Twitter Owns a billion of Tesla Did last 2 or 3 SpaceX rounds And-wants to get into Boring in the future (I told him to help with recruiting) You could honestly do like 20 mins in your hotel He's super smart, good guy
Elon: Ok, he can come by tonight. Room 1001 at Shangri-La.
Michael: Need to find you a great assistant! I'm headed to bed I'll tell Philippe to email you when he lands tonight in case you're still up and want to meet
Michael: https://twitter.com/sbf_ftx/status/1514588820641128452?s=21&tZ4pA_Ct35ud6M60g3ng
Michael: Could be cool to do this with Sam Bankman-Fried
[2022-04-28] Elon: Twitter is obviously not going to be turned into some right wing nuthouse. Aiming to be as broadly inclusive as possible. Do the right thing for vast majority of Americans.
Michael: ["liked" above]
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Elon to Bret: After several days of deliberation -this is obviously a matter of serious gravity-I have decided to move forward with taking Twitter private. I will send you an offer letter tonight, which will be public in the morning. Happy to connect you with my team if you have any questions. Thanks, Elon
Bret: Acknowledged
Bret: Confirming I received your email. Also, please use [...] going forward, my personal email.
Elon: Will do
[2022-04-14] Bret: Elon, as you saw from our press release, the board is in receipt of your letter and is evaluating your proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of Twitter and all of its stockholders. We will be back in touch with you when we have completed that work. Bret
Elon: Sounds good
[2022-04-17] Bret: Elon, I am just checking in to reiterate that the board Is seriously reviewing the proposal in your letter. We are working on a formal response as quickly as we can consistent with our fiduciary duties. Feel free to reach out anytime.
Elon: ["liked" above]
Steve Davis is the president of the boring company
Will MacAskill is an Oxford Professor - his research focuses on Effective Altruism Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was CEO of crypto exchange FTX.
Marc Merrill is the Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, and President of Games for Riot Games, the game developer and publisher behind League of Legends.
Marc Merrill: https://ground.news/article/elon-musk-offers-to-buy-twitter-for-4139-billion_20a2b3
Marc: you are the hero Gotham needs - hell F'ing yes!
Jason Calacanis is a VC
Jake Sherman is a journalist
[redacted
]: Hey Elon -my name is Jake Sherman. I'm a reporter with Punchbowl News in Washington I cover Congress. Wonder if you're game to talk about how Twitter would change for politics if you were at the helm?
Adeo Ressi is a VC
Adeo Ressi: Would love you to buy Twitter and fix it 🙏
Elon: ["loved" above]
Omead Afsha works for Tesla
Omead Afshar: Thank you for what you're doing. We all love you and are always behind you! Not having a global platform that is truly free speech is dangerous for all. Companies are all adopting some form of content moderation and it's all dependent on ownership on how it shifts and advertisers paying them, as you've said.
Omead: Who knew a Saudi Arabian prince had so much leverage and so much to say about twitter.
Jared Birchall is CEO of Neurallink and Elon Musk’s right-hand man.
Elon: Larry Ellison is interested in being part of the Twitter take-private
Jared: ["liked above]
Jared: <Attachmento-text/vcard - Sam Bankman-Fried.vcf>
Jared: He seems to point to a similar blockchain based idea Also, we now have the right software engineer for you to speak with about the blockchain idea. Do you want an intro? Or just contact info?
Elon: Who is this person and who recommended them?
Elon: The engineer
Elon: I mean
Elon: The idea of blockchain free speech has been around for a long time. The questions are really about how to implement it.
Jared: former spacex'r, current CTO at Matter Labs, a blockchain company. TBC is on the verge of hiring him.
Elon: Ok
Jared: best to intro you via email?
Elon: Yeah
Jared: Investor calls are currently scheduled from 1pm to 3pm. They'd like to do a brief check in beforehand.
Elon: Ok
Elon: Whatever time works
Jared: ["liked" above]
Jared: I'll be dialing in to the calls as well. Let me know if you prefer that I'm there in person at the house or if remote is better.
Elon: Remote is fine
"BL Lee": i have a twitter ceo candidate for you -bill gurley/benchmark. they were early investors as well so know all the drama. want to meet him?
James Gorman is the CEO of Morgan Stanley
Elon to James Gorman: Thanks James, your unwavering support is deeply appreciated. Elon
Elon: I think the tender has a real chance
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Elon to Bret: Would it be possible for you and me to talk this weekend?
Elon: Or any group of people from the Twitter and my side
Bret: Yes, that would be great. I would suggest me and Sam Britton from Goldman on our side. Do you have time this afternoon / evening?
Elon: Sounds good
Elon: Whatever time works for you and Sam is good for me
Bret: Can we call you in 15 mins? 4:30pm PT (not sure what time zone you are in)
Bret: I can just call your mobile. Let me know if you prefer Zoom, conference call code, or something different
Elon: Sure
Elon: Mobile is fine
Bret: ["liked" above]
Bret: Just tried callings-please call whenever you are available
Elon: Calling shortly
Bret: Great thanks
Elon: Morgan Stanley needs to talk to me. I will call as soon as that's done.
Bret: No problem -here when you are ready
Elon: ["liked" above]
Bret: I understand our advisors just had a productive call. I am available to speak after you've debriefed with them.
Elon: Sounds good
Joe Rogan is a media personality and host of the Joe Rogan Podcast
Joe Rogan: I REALLY hope you get Twitter. If you do, we should throw a hell of a party.
Elon: 💯
"Mike Pop": For sure
Mike: defiantly things can be better and more culturally engaged
Mike: I think you're in a unique position to broker better AI to detect bots the second they pop up
Elon: ["liked" above]
[2022-04-026] Mike: When do I start boss
Elon: It will take at least a few months to dose the deal
Mike: ["loved" above]
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Parag Agrawal was Twitter CEO
Elon to Parag: Can I call you later? I have the SpaceX exec staff meeting right now. Will be done in half an hour. Do you need to talk before then?
Parag: No -can talk in 30!
Elon: ["liked above]
[2022-04-26] Elon: Good question ...
Elon:
Jack Dorsey cofounded Twitter and was CEO before Parag Agrawal
jack: Thank you ❤️
Elon: ["loved" above]
Elon: I basically following your advice!
jack: I know and I appreciate you. This is the right and only path. I'll continue to do whatever it takes to make it work.
Elon: ["liked" above]
Tim Urban is the creator of Wait But Why
Michael Grimes works at Morgan Stanley
Michael Grimes: Do you have 5 minutes to connect on possible meeting tomorrow I believe you will want to take?
Elon: Will call in about half an hour
Michael: Sam Bankman Fried is why I'm calling https://twitter.com/sbf_ftx/status/1514588820641128452 https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/recode/2021/3/20/22335209/sam-bank.man-fried-joe-biden-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism https://ftx.us
Elon: ??
Elon: I'm backlogged with a mountain of critical work matters. ls this urgent?
Michael: Wants 1-Sb. Serious about partner w/you. Same security you own
Michael: Not urgent unless you want him to fly tomorrow. He has a window tomorrow then he's wed-Friday booked
Michael: Could do $5bn if everything vision lock. Would do the engineering for social media blockchain integration. Founded FTX crypto exchange. Believes in your mission. Major Democratic donor. So thought it was potentially worth an hour tomorrow a la the Orlando meeting and he said he could shake hands on 5 if you like him and I think you will. Can talk when you have more time not urgent but if tomorrow works it could get us $5bn equity in an hour
Elon: Blockchain twitter isn't possible, as the bandwidth and latency requirements cannot be supported by a peer to peer network, unless those "peers" are absolutely gigantic, thus defeating the purpose of a decentralized network.
Elon: ["disliked" "Could do $5bn ..."]
Elon: So long as I don't have to have a laborious blockchain debate
Elon: Strange that Orlando declined
Elon: Please let him know that I would like to talk and understand why he declined
Elon: Does Sam actually have $3B liquid?
Michael: I think Sam has it yes. He actually said up to 10 at one point but in writing he said up to 5. He's into you. And he specifically said the blockchain piece is only if you liked it and not gonna push it. Orlando referred Sams interest to us and will be texting you to speak to say why he (Orlando) declined. We agree orlando needs to call you and explain given everything he said to us and you. Will make that happen We can push Sam to next week but I do believe you will like him. Ultra Genius and doer builder like your formula. Built FTX from scratch after MIT physics. Second to Bloomberg in donations to Biden campaign.
David Sacks founded Yammer and is a VC
Elon to David Sacks: https://twitter.com/dineshdsouza/status/1518744328205647872?s=10&t=vkagBUrJJexF_SJDOC_LUw
David Sacks: RT'd
David: Justin Amash (former congressman who's liberterian and good on free speech) asked for an intro to you: "I believe I can be helpful to Twitter's team going forward-thinking about how to handle speech and moderation, how that intersects with ideas about governance, how to navigate actual government (including future threats to Section 230), etc.-and I'd love to connect with Elon if he's interested in connecting (I don't have a direct way to contact him). I believe my experience and expertise can be useful, and my genera! outlook aligns with his stated goals. Thanks. All the best." Please LMK if you want to connect with him.
David: https://twitter.com/justinamash?s=21&t=_Owbgwdot71pUtC4rJUXYg
Elon: I don't own twitter yet
David: Understood.
[2022-04-28] Elon: Do you and/or find want to invest in the take private?
Elon: *fund
David: Yes but I don't have a vehicle for it (Craft is venture} so either I need to set up an SPV or just do it personally. If the latter, my amount would be mice-nuts in relative terms but I would be happy to participate to support the cause.
Elon: Up to you
David: Ok cool, let me know.
David: I'm in personally and will raise an SPV too if that works for you.
Elon: Sure
James Murdoch is the son of Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox
James Murdoch: Thank you. I will link you up. Also will call when same of the dust settles. Hope all's ok..
Elon: ["liked" above]
James Murdoch is the son of Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox. Kathryn Murdoch is his wife and calls herself “a radical centrist”
Kathryn Murdoch: Will you bring back Jack?
Elon: Jack doesn't want to come back. He is focused on Bitcoin.
Maddie seems to be Larry Ellison’s Assistant
[redacted
]: Hi Elon, This is Maddie, Larry Ellison's assistant. Larry asked that I connect the head of his family office, Paul Marinelli, with the head of yours. Would you please share their contact details? Alternatively, please provide them with Paul's: Cell: [...] Email: [...]
Elon: [Jared's email]
[redacted
]: Thank you.
Marc Benoiff is the co-CEO of Salesforce alongside Larry Ellison
Marc Benoiff Happy to talk about it if this is interesting: Twitter conversational OS-the townsquare for your digital life.
Elon: Well I don't own it yet
Reid Hoffman is a VC. Satya is presumably Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
Reid Hoffman [VC] Great. I will put you in touch with Satya.
Elon: Sounds good
Elon: Do you want to invest in Twitter take private?
Reid: It's way beyond my resources. I presume you are not interested in ventures$.
Elon: There is plenty of financial support, but you're a friend, so just letting you know you'd get priority. VC money is fine if you want.
Reid: Very cool! OK -if I were to put together$, what size could you make available? [unclear emoji, some kind of smiling face]
Elon: Whatever you'd like. I will just cut back others.
Elon: I would need to know the approximate by next week
Reid: What would be the largest $ that would be ok? I consulted with our LPs, and I have strong demand. Would be fun!
Elon: $2B?
Reid: Great. Probably doable -let me see.
Elon: Can be less if easier. The round is oversubscribed, so I just have to tell other investors what their allocation is ideally bv early next week.
Elon: Should I connect you with the Morgan Stanley team?
Reid: Yes please. Especially with the terms, etc. I know Michael Grimes, btw.
Elon: Please feel free to call him directly
[group chat message connecting Reid to Jared Birchall]
Reid: OK-I'll do that. (Trying to simplify your massively busy life.) The Morgan Stanley deal team is truly excellent and I don't say such things lightly.
[group chat messages between Reid and Jared to exchange emails]
Reid: Indeed! I took U public and the MSFT-U deal with them!
Viv Hantusch is a fan of Tesla (did a podcast with Elon)
Viv Hantusch: From a social perspectives-Twitter allowing for high quality video uploads (1080p at a minimum) & adding a basic in-app video editor would have quite a big impact I think. Especially useful for citizen journalism & fun educational content. Might even help Twitter regain market share lost to TikTok
Elon: Agreed
Elon: Twrtter can't monetize video yet, so video is a loss for Twitter and for the those who post
Elon: Twitter needs better guidance
Viv: Yeah, 100%
Viv: They should have a subscription that's actually useful (unlike Twitter Blue haha)
Elon: Totally
Satya Nadella is CEO of Microsoft. Reid Hoffman is a VC
Satya Nadella is CEO of Microsoft
Satya: Hi Elon .. Let me know when you have time to chat. can do tomorrow evening or weekend. Look forward to it. Thx Satya
Elon: I can talk now if you want
Satya: Calling
Satya: Thx for the chat. Will stay in touch. And will for sure follow-up on Teams feedback!
Elon: sounds good :)
Brian Acton is interim CEO of Signal
Elon to Brian Acton: Trying to figure out what to do with Twitter DMs. They should be end to end encrypted (obv). Dunno if better to have redundancy with Signal or integrate it.
Brett Taylor was Twitter Chairman and is CEO of Salesforce
Elon to Bret Taylor: I'd like to convey some critical elements of the transition plan. Is there a good time for us to talk tonight? Happy to have anyone from Twitter on the call.
Elon: My biggest concern is headcount and expense growth. Twitter has ~3X the head count per unit of revenue of other social media companies, which is very unhealthy in my view.
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was CEO of crypto exchange FTX. Jared Birchall is CEO of Neurallink and Elon Musk’s right-hand man
Jared Birchall: Elon -connecting you with SBF.
Sam BF: Hey!
Steve Jurvetson is a VC