So goes the narrative: Elon Musk is no longer at the helm of Twitter.
Musk on May 12 welcomed the arrival of Linda Yaccarino, an advertising veteran, as the new CEO of Twitter 2.0, the social network he acquired last October for the colossal sum of $44 billion.
The billionaire executive said it himself: he will let go of the reins at Twitter to better focus on Tesla.
"Obviously, bringing on Linda allows me to devote more time to Tesla, which is exactly what I will be doing!" Musk said on May 12.
Twitter Is Not SpaceX
We are immediately tempted to draw a parallel with SpaceX, the billionaire's rocket and satellite company. He installed Gwynne Shotwell as president. Shotwell handles the day-to-day operations of public relations, including the federal government. Musk devotes himself to the technology part, especially the engineering. Many are saying that this separation of duties will be the same at Twitter, which suffered from an exodus of advertisers, after Musk made it a conservative stronghold by removing all the content safeguards.
The problem is that Twitter is not SpaceX. If Musk overpaid for the platform, it is because there's something unique about it. Twitter is at the center of the billionaire's strategy to make history on his own terms. He sees himself as the “savior” of the world. The platform allows him to shine the spotlight on what he considers to be the most pressing issues of our time -- for example, the depopulation of Western countries and large countries like Japan, South Korea and China, or an energy sustainable economy.
On Twitter, he names the “enemies” of our civilization: the "woke mind virus" which he wants to defeat at all costs.
The platform also allows him to denounce mainstream media that he deems biased. The only source of truth is he and Twitter. Basically, we should take what he says as gospel. Do not listen to other sources of information because they lie to the people. He is the ultimate truth.
Power And Influence
Musk currently has 139.5 million followers on Twitter, making him the biggest influencer on the platform. HIs tweets are seen by millions of people who retweet them, comment on them, and disseminate them. This multiplier effect allows him to reach hundreds of millions of people around the world.
As a result, his power, visibility and influence continue to grow. At a time when the crisis of confidence in institutions and those who epitomize them is at its highest, the billionaire knows how to choose his moments. He, the Everything CEO or the Meme CEO is determined to fill the void and become the new providential or exceptional strongman.
Twitter allows him to achieve this goal in an influencer's society. He himself says that the platform is the town square of our time; basically the place where opinion makers and trendsetters meet. He sees himself as both.
The platform has allowed him to expand his power and influence. It made him the first and only global CEO. He aspires to become the Visionary and Savior of the world. The best tool to achieve this is Twitter, which allows him to build this image because, in the end, everything is about perception in the influencer-economy world.
Twitter has allowed him to establish an image of a man of the people, of the unconventional and of a genius preoccupied with the problems of the world and wanting to give it a most joyful and radiant future - to colonize Mars for example.
Being in a position to control Twitter gives him the power to set the rules and get his message out more effectively. To no longer run Twitter would mean to abandon all this potential and to be relegated to a simple user. Above all, it would mean to give up everything he has worked for, for many years: to become the most powerful persona in the world. To be a kind of human demiurge.
In the organization chart of Twitter, the name Musk will no longer be in the CEO box, but he will always be in command.
The whole edifice that Musk has built to be a planetary leader depends on this platform, which is one of the best sounding boards and the best means of communication in the 21st century.
Musk can't relinquish that power.
He craves for it.
He wants it.
And he will keep it.
