Given the absence of a certain former U.S. President, Elon Musk is probably Twitter’s most famous regular user, commanding 80 million followers. And, like that certain former president, it’s unclear why. One would think the richest man in the world has better things to do than post memes but now, at least, he can invoice himself for time spent on the app. Yes, Musk just bought 9.2 percent of Twitter stock, making him the company’s largest individual shareholder.
What’s he going to do? It’s unclear, but Musk has had a complicated relationship with Twitter, frequently griping about its policies and terms of service agreements. “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted a few weeks back, “What should be done?”
Complaining about Twitter is probably one of the top five or six things Twitter is most frequently used for, but now Musk has the ability to leverage his complaints into real change. He has publicly mused about starting his own social media platform in the past, but why start your own when you can tweak an existing one to your liking?
CNN spoke with Dan Ives, a tech analyst as Wedbush Securities. He said he expects Musk to throw his weight around. “This is a shot across the bow at Twitter’s board and management team to start discussions,” Ives said. “One way or another, he’s going to change the course of Twitter.”
