Big Tech

Elon Musk ignored pleas to stop alienating advertisers, new book says

Billionaire owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, has long list of wealthy, powerful advisers he habitually ignores

Elon Musk with a SpaceX rocket. Musk was cautioned against his 'self-destructive' behaviours that were spooking advertisers in the months of the Twitter takeover. Photograph: Todd Anderson/The New York Times

Aisha Counts
Tue Sep 12 2023 - 11:19

Elon Musk ignored warnings from confidantes including Warner Brothers, Discovery’s David Zaslav and his own brother that he was driving advertisers away with his erratic behaviour, according to an upcoming biography.

The billionaire owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, has a long list of wealthy, powerful advisers he habitually ignores, according to Walter Isaacson’s new biography.

In the months surrounding Musk’s chaotic takeover of Twitter – when he was sending out provocative tweets – Mr Zaslav cautioned about “self-destructive” behaviours that were spooking advertisers.

Mr Musk should instead focus on improving video and making better ads, the executive counselled, according to the book, which is coming out this week. The board of Tesla, chairman Robyn Denholm and his brother Kimbal Musk also warned Mr Musk that controversies at X were hurting the car company’s brand.

READ MORE

But the billionaire didn’t seem to think his behaviour was a problem and pushed back. He ignored former Intel chief executive Bob Swan, who advised Mr Musk about financing the Twitter deal, and repeatedly dismissed the views of lawyer Alex Spiro and wealth manager Jared Birchall, according to the book.

[ Elon Musk takeover costs Twitter €12.7m in Irish redundancy costs ]

Mr Musk’s $44 billion (€41 billion) takeover of the social media institution once known as Twitter has drawn criticism from an array of groups, from users for allegedly degrading the experience to advertisers and interest groups for allowing hate speech to flourish.

Twitter made a series of changes under Mr Musk, such as laying off trust and safety employees, reinstating accounts previously banned for violating the platform’s policies and removing verification labels on high-profile accounts that don’t pay for a checkmark.

Those changes, in addition to turning off advertisers, have alienated many users. Twitter’s advertising revenue had fallen by half, Mr Musk posted on X in July. The company has countered by saying it’s addressing harmful content in a number of ways.

Budget 2024: 'You might have a bit of a bonanza in terms of one-off spending'

Listen | 43:12

Around that time, X’s owner did heed the advice of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who told him to avoid getting into a fight with Apple.

Mr Musk had called out the iPhone-maker for pausing advertising on his platform last November. But Mr Ellison cautioned him against damaging that relationship since Apple was a major marketer and X needed to stay on the iPhone’s App Store. Mr Musk then reached out to Apple’s Tim Cook to make amends.

The billionaire’s other influential advisers included venture capitalists David Sacks and Marc Andreessen. Isaacson’s book paints Mr Musk as a largely impulsive decision-maker who oscillates between listening to their advice and ignoring them.

At times, he even seemed to derive pleasure from going against their advice, Isaacson wrote. The consistent theme was that when Mr Musk has his mind set, not even those closest to him can change it. – Bloomberg

LATEST STORIES