Elon Musk’s Uncertain Acquisition of Platform X
Elon Musk has acknowledged that his $44 billion acquisition of Platform X “may fail.”
Musk commented on the uncertain future of Platform X, even as Mark Zuckerberg’s social media platform, Thread, prepares to roll out a web version in its latest user acquisition effort.
Angry Users React
Owner X, whose net worth is estimated at $225.5 billion, angered users last Friday by saying they would no longer be allowed to block accounts except in the case of direct messages.
Musk argued that the blocking feature “doesn’t make sense” and said that users would have to be content with simply “muting” accounts from appearing on their timeline.
The move sparked immediate opposition, with Monica Lewinsky among those who called on X CEO Linda Iaccarino to reconsider dropping the feature due to the harassment she faces.
Glitch on Platform X
On Saturday, a glitch on Platform X caused photos and videos uploaded to Twitter prior to 2015 to disappear from the site. One of the images temporarily erased was a selfie of famous comedian Ellen DeGeneres from the 2014 Oscars along with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Meryl Stipe.
This image was later restored, although the defect still exists on some other media. If Platform X fails at some point, it would be one of the most costly business disasters in history, as Musk was forced to sell most of Tesla’s stock to fund the $44 billion deal.
