WEBVTT - Elon Musk, Twitter and the SEC 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:06.480 From the heart of where innovation, money and power CALLI 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:11.880 in Silicon Valley and beyond. This is Bloomberg Technology with 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:27.360 Emily Jay. I'm Caroline Hyde in New York in for 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:29.560 Emily Chang, and this has Breenberg Technology coming up in 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.680 the next hour. You've guessed at Elon Musk. We're covering 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:36.080 it at once cost Twitter Private, so he's offering forty 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:38.760 three billion dollars in cash to do so. The board 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:41.920 has reservations, so will share holders ever have the option 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.519 to vote? We discuss, Plus the sec might have a 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:48.239 few thoughts on Musk's interest in Twitter. He vented his 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:52.480 frustrations with the agency, including that now infamous settlement where 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:55.160 he was forced to step down as Tesla's chair and 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.960 online sneaker marketplace. The Goat Group is moving into team 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.280 sponsorships and making its ferry into Europe with a multi 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:06.119 year deal the French soccer club Paris Saint jemin Our. 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.320 Exclusive interview with the Goat co founder CEO that's later 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:14.720 this hour. All across the ins and outs the curiosity 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.400 surrounding Elon Musk's interest in Twitter, we want to unpack 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:21.560 when that story a little bit more, Starting with Musk's 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:25.440 surprised Ted talk. It was streamed for the world civilization 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:30.399 or risk is decreased if Twitter, the more we can 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:34.560 increase the trust of Twitter as a public platform. And 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.760 so I do think this will be somewhat painful and 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.040 I'm not sure that I will actually be able to 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:45.320 to acquire it. It was quite the cute loss moment 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:50.120 for Ted, of course, amid its Canada based event that 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.560 it held today, and suddenly in flying came Elon Musk, 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:54.680 who had some big thoughts to be had. Sarah talked 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.640 to us about well, just how serious we think in 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:03.240 nature this bid is? Well Elon Musk, I mean, he says, 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.320 of course he has the financial wherewithal to do this 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:10.560 if he has ad mentioned, sells some shares or get 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:13.680 some debt financing. But beyond that, I mean he really 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:19.600 his heart is in changing the platforms content moderation policy, 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:21.560 and he spoke a little bit about that at Ted. 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.000 He said that he wants to make sure that Twitter 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.440 doesn't doesn't take down any account unless they absolutely have to, 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.840 and that you know, people are allowed to edit their tweets. 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.239 He has a bunch of things as a power user, 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:37.040 remember Elon Musk has more than eighty million followers. As 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.240 a power user, he sees some things that he wants 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:43.680 to fix and sort of make sure that that Twitter 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:47.760 is is more in line with his free speech ethos. 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:49.840 But a lot of the things he mentioned, I believe 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.359 if you ask Twitter what they thought of those ideas, 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:54.880 they would say they're doing them already, such as his 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.920 thought that you know, adhere to the rules in the 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:01.480 country where Twitter exists. Of course Twitter does that, so 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.200 so I think that, you know, it is sort of 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:09.680 fuzzy here what exactly he plans to change concretely if 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:11.200 you were to take over Twitter, and then how it 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.919 would be led. Yeah, and I think that's the key question. 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.680 Talk to us about how we can presume. And we 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:21.639 understand from certain other reporting that the board isn't particularly 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:23.679 happy about this, But we were talking, for example, that 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.160 we know Jack Dulcy is still on the board. He 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:29.440 and Elon Musk actually have a relatively favorable relationship respect 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:33.120 one another. But this must be incredibly high pressure stakes 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:38.480 for the new CEO. It is just an incredibly highly 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.560 pressured moment for Prague. Admirable, but you know, he knew 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:43.680 what he was getting into. Twitter is a company that 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:48.120 has had a highly volatile time with outside investors with 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:50.640 its board. This is a company that does not have 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.360 the majority founder control, and so it is vulnerable to 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:59.760 activist interests, to um CEO change decisions and that nature 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.800 of activity. So I don't think that this is the 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.280 end of the Elon Musk story. I think that we 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:09.920 we have even heard retail investors get very excited about 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.320 backing him on this plan, and others who are who 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:15.640 are running away from the idea that Elon Musk should 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:18.479 shake up Twitter. It's a time of volatility. It was 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:22.279 supposed to be a week for Twitter employees to be 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.560 heads down focusing on their work, but they are very distracted, 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:29.160 of course, by everything that's happened here. I'm assuming there 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:31.520 was talk that there, of course having a meeting to 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.400 discuss just this very bid at about five pm today, 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.320 So we wonder how, of course, that conversation is currently faring. 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:39.840 Sarah Fry great to catch up with you get a 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.280 little bit more of the double in the detail of 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.200 all of this story as it continues to evolve. Meanwhile, 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:48.159 let's of course now stick with it and get you 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:50.880 some outside perspective. Two key analysts that cover the company, 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:55.839 Markmahenya Evicle, Jasmine in Bug of Insider Intelligence, Mark Jasmine, 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.039 great to have some time with you. First and foremost, 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:01.200 Jasmine just talked to us about you know, what you 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:04.040 think Elon Musk wants out of this? Is it to 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:07.240 exercise changes? He says, I mean, what sort of change 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:11.320 do you think could be a foot as a product perspective? Well, 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:13.840 first of all, it's it's not totally surprising that this 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.799 is happening. We all expected there to be some turbulent 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:19.920 times ahead. I mean, Musk is one of Twitter's most 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.880 prolific users, and Twitter is a social platform that thrives 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:27.120 on big news and uncertainty, and that's something that likely 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:30.440 appeals to Musk in terms of what he'll change though, 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.320 I think first and foremost Musk would make Twitter a 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:37.200 free speech haven, probably reversing many of the guardrails that 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:41.200 Twitter has put forth recently to protect the health of 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:45.400 the platform it's users and to make advertisers be or 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:50.719 feel comfortable UM advertising there. He'd probably also likely transform 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:54.279 it into a subscription only service UM that isn't rely 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:57.359 on advertising to bring in revenue. I don't think this 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:00.680 is something that would happen overnight. I don't think Musk 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:04.200 is happy with the existing subscription model and would want 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:06.839 to improve it before he does implement these changes. But 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.839 that's likely something that would come if this deal materializes. 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.800 And to that point, Mark, if you see that the 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:16.080 product could change, would it be a positive change? How 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.960 do you view any of the discussion around the evolution 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:23.360 of the product and whether and inherently it could add value? 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:25.240 Because from what I took from the Ted talk, this 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:27.760 ended up being thought of a sort of a not 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:31.600 for profit endeavor that he's taking on Caroline, I think 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:33.600 you just laid jump, but I think you just pointed 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.320 out what's going on here. I don't necessarily hear a 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:39.760 public market strategy from uh. From Musk, I i hear 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.160 a public good good strategy. I've been on the sidelines 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.839 on Twitter and really skeptical about the asset for a 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:48.520 couple of years because of the slow pace of product 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:51.200 innovation on both the user and the advertiser side. I 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.160 don't hear Musk addressing those issues. I think his goals 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.000 are different, and he is public goods goals. In other words, 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.360 he wants to turn it into an absolutist free speech 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:01.640 PLI form. Hey, he's on the side of the angels 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:03.359 as far as I'm concerned on that, but that's not 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:06.440 what shareholders are necessarily focused on. What are you doing 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:09.960 to improve the tools for advertisers to run performance marketing campaigns? 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:11.400 On the side, what are you doing to make the 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.960 site more intuitive for more consumers? And I'm not sure 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:17.080 a subscription business is going to really add a lot. 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.040 If you run through the numbers, and we've run surveys 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:21.520 on this, it's only about ten percent of Twitter users 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:25.120 really want to pay for a subscription service, even putting 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:26.680 up the kind of numbers, you know, two or three 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:28.680 bucks a month. I mean, maybe you get half a 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.200 billion in revenue right now, this company is generating three 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.000 to four billion. And advertising is a great model and 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:37.280 it's a trillion dollar tam So that's that's fine for 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:39.120 Twitter to stick with that. They just need to improve 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:41.600 the tools. And I don't hear that coming from from 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:43.520 must but I don't think that's his strategy. I think 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:45.320 he wants to He's coming out of with a public 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:48.360 goods strategy, and which is what you pointed out. And 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.840 to that end, Jasmine, that of course isn't music to 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:55.400 investors is what is music to investors is is growth 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:57.720 is getting more people on board. I mean, in a 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.680 weird way, this is sort of a wonderful advertising free 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.680 prs some that's currently going on for the use of 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.680 the social media platform. But inherently do you think it 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.160 would spell its demise in terms of users, in terms 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:13.240 of growth. Well, the interesting thing here is that, you know, 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:15.800 Musk's comments really come at a time that Twitter has 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:19.360 had a rebound in AD growth. UM last year, worldwide 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:22.960 ad revenues were up to nearly four point five billion 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:27.280 dollars in AD revenues only grew by seven point four percent. 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:29.600 But I think you're absolutely right. At the very least, 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:32.360 you know, this will drive a lot of user engagement 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:36.719 on on Twitter. Controversy trend tends to turn or or 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.079 to have people lean into the platform. At the same time, though, 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.800 that makes a lot of advertisers really really wary. Um. 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:46.840 Twitter has long been used as a brand advertising platform, 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:48.640 and the company has done a lot to make it 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:52.160 brand safe for advertisers. Now, Musk takes a very different 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.920 view on speech on Twitter and is probably going to 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:59.040 push for less, not more content moderation, and that will 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:03.400 make risk adverse advertisers really think twice about advertising there. Mark, 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:06.120 as you said, for the few years you've been on 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:09.080 the sidelines sort of questioning the overall business model. When 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:11.520 we saw the changing of the guard Jack Dawsey handing 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:13.960 over to Prague Agua Wal, did you think that that 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.000 was net positive? How are we feeling about this CEO, 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:20.000 relatively new in tenure, having to navigate what is a 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:24.520 complete storm, perfect or not? Caroline, I've viewed that as 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:28.480 a really strong net neutral. Uh So, you know, look, 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:30.480 I don't know if we've heard under the new CEO 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:33.560 a clear, you know, a really clear strategy for the 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:35.360 company going forward. I'll give him a few months. I 0:09:35.440 --> 0:09:37.880 think we all should. At the same time, he's been 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.160 with the company for I forget at eight or ten years, 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:43.040 were running product By the way, that's been the problem 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:45.360 at the company. I want to be respectful here, but 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:47.800 but you know, it's been a slow pace of innovation, 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:49.480 and the company has come out and acknowledge that. They 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:51.960 said that at their last investor days. So I'm not 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:55.360 sure this was the radical change that Twitter really needed 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:58.079 in order to you know, speed up the product development cycle. 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.840 Craziest performance marketing tools, and um you create them make 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.439 the service just increasingly more intuitive for users. There's a 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:06.680 point that Jason's made that's also really important. Some of 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.800 this content moderation has been absolutely necessary. You know a 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:11.960 few years ago there was just too much vitriol and 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.800 too many of these f bombs on Twitter, so they 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:16.880 needed to take that out. I think Musk is really 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:21.559 focusing on the political content moderation. He maybe right about that, uh, 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:23.960 but but I don't think that. I don't think advertisers 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:26.560 and I don't think users are really I think most 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:29.560 users probably aren't all that in the weeds and don't 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.040 really care that much about the political moderation, the lack 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.080 of it, or what's going on there because there's so 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.280 many broad sets of interest. And I'm sorry, I think 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.920 publics is just a small part of Twitter's appeal. So 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:40.960 again I kept, let look at this and what's going 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:43.200 to change the growth profile. Yes, we had a good 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:45.680 last year, but you know, I think this is versus 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.720 the other assets in the space. Snaps had much better 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.480 product innovation and growth, and this company doesn't even touch 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:54.120 the scale of Google, or or or or Facebook. Okay, 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:57.280 so one answer question for you both as we had 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.440 towards the end of this conversation. When I'm looking at 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:04.160 fifty four twenty dollars twenty in terms of taking it private, 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.160 do you think it will go? Will potentially see a 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:12.120 deal for at least is it worth twenty? Jasmine, you 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:15.480 know it's so hard to say, and Um, I do 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:18.760 believe that because of mass character, there is a very 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:22.920 large chance that you know, this deal does not materialize, um, 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:27.920 and that he changes his mind. Mark, is it worth up? 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:31.120 I think he's going to get his offer rejected. I 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.200 think he's gonna sell his stock. I think the stock 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.000 is gonna give up its twenty gains. Is it worth 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:40.920 under a series of product improvements? Absolutely it is, but 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.839 but we have to see the improvements first. No, I 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.520 don't think right now today it's not worth And I 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.640 don't appreciate his pot analogies. He doesn't have to put 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:51.960 that as part of his his bid. I just think 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:54.839 that undermines the credibility a little bit on the offer. 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:58.760 Not much optimism that Marmahoney have a court, Jasmine Enberg 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.560 Intel insider. It elligence. Really great to have both of 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:11.120 you one. We thank you welcome back. Well. Twitter wasn't 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.360 the only thing on the mind of Elon Musk today 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:15.600 and the tag talk. He felt the need to get 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:17.679 some things off his chest when it came to whether 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:21.240 he had the money to actually take Tesla private. Now 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:23.520 we will remember this tweet that kicked it all off 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:26.400 about four years ago when he said funding was secured, 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:28.839 which led to, of course the investigation by the SEC. 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:33.000 To take a listen to Musk's version of events, because 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:38.520 the SEC knew that funding was secured, but they pursued 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:42.960 an act of public investigation. Nonetheless, at the time, Tells 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.160 THO was in a precarious financial situation and I was 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:47.920 told by the banks that if I did not agree 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:50.600 to settle with the SEC, that they would the banks 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.760 would cease providing working capital, and Tells would go bankrupt immediately. 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.280 So that's like having a gun to your child's head. 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:03.400 So I was forced to concede the SEC unlawfully, those 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:10.240 bastards um and and and now they say it makes 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.040 it look like I lied when I did not infect 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:14.440 line I was. I was forced to admit that allied 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:19.760 to saved Tess's life. And that's the only reason. Sorry 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:22.360 for perhaps some of the strong language and that Musk 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:24.760 was then asked in a very next question if he's 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:27.200 glad that he didn't actually take Tess a private and 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:32.200 he admitted, actually, then he was joining me. Now Tom Gorman, 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.960 we want to know, I think not Tom Common, Harvey 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.880 pit prolergies, Chairman Pitt, I don't know what's going on 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.280 with We thought we had someone prior to you, but 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:42.880 I'm very pleased to say that it is indeed you 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:44.960 and your express c s when it comes to the 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:49.240 SEC and Chairman. I'm interested, of course as a man 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:53.680 who you know, has helped lead the SEC, understand the 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.800 way in which this organization works, and has had to 0:13:56.840 --> 0:14:00.679 suffer some of the abuse it would see perhaps being 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:03.640 leveled at you from the likes of Elon Musk. How 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.120 do you think about that settlement that was made four 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.720 years ago and the controversy that it stirred in the 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.960 ongoing anger it still seems to be within of course 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:19.360 Elon Musk himself. I think it's basically Musk's fiction. If 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:24.760 he didn't want to litigate with the SEC or couldn't 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:29.800 afford it, all he had to do was say I'm 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:33.720 not going to litigate, I'll default and let the SEC 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.320 get a judgment. And let's see what a court will order. 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:45.080 But he spent probably hundreds of thousands of dollars on 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:49.640 legal fees to execute a settlement that went back and forth. 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:54.360 Having done that, he should live up by to his agreement. 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:57.080 He agreed to do it. If he didn't want to 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:02.960 do it, nobody held a gun to his head. The 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.120 proverbial one who was sort of saying it was in 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:08.440 a difficult situation financially precarious for Tessa at the time. 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.000 But now as we look forward, you of course were 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:13.880 the twenty six chairman of the US Security and Exchange 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.800 Committee back in two thousand, wants to tell the two 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:17.960 thousand and three it's a it's a different beast now, 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.000 but it is a basis currently having to analyze what 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:25.400 perhaps a taking private of Twitter looks like by one 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:27.960 Elon Musk, the way in which he has conducted it, 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.720 the the amount that he's stating, again with the more 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.880 important four twenty number in it, is it something yes, 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:37.920 he see is going to be taking seriously. I think 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:41.840 it's very hard to take anything Mr Musk does seriously. 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:47.720 He always has ulterior motives and there are serious questions 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:53.320 about what he's really about. Um he has said that 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:58.800 if his offer isn't accepted, he will have to reconsider 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:04.960 his physician. So he already created an overhang on the market. 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:11.400 And I think it's a safe bet that Twitter, although 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:16.720 it has said it will review the offer, will ultimately 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:20.440 reject it. That's not to say it should reject it, 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:23.800 but it is to say that they will. They will 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:30.119 have all sorts of reasons that they concoct to refuse 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:35.320 to accept Musk's offer, and then the market price of 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:38.800 the stock will plumb it. So he's playing a game 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:43.280 with Twitter and with the investors in Twitter, and with 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:48.320 the market for Twitter securities, and it's it's a game 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:52.320 or indeed a maneuver or indeed away in which he 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.920 conducts himself through the medium of social media, which is 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:58.480 fascinating in this current day and age. And we shouldn't 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:01.800 be shot by given that we had well the head 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.520 of the United States, a president himself who used to 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.640 give an awful lot of news via the social media platform. 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:10.600 But how do you think an sec can look at 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.240 what is, you know, an announcement of taking a certain 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:15.400 amount of shares in a company, an announcement of them 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:17.840 and wanting to do a bid. How how do you 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.440 think SEC regulation can adapt to this new age of 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:28.880 this news environment. I think it's very difficult because the 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:36.640 SEC's rules did not really contemplate social media. And while 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.080 there have been very good attempts by the SEC to 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:46.120 try to modernize their positions, it's still very difficult for them. 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:50.400 The fact that somebody can simply tweet out to eight 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:59.040 million people market influencing information is not something the SEC 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.320 has yet come up with a solution for, and I 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.919 think that is going to have to be something it 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.960 takes a very close look at. If you would chairming 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.840 one word of advice right here, right now for the SEC. 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:18.919 If I were chair, what would I do well? I 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:24.120 first of all would say former SEC chairs should be 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:29.359 seen but not heard. That that's one aspect. But I 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:34.960 would say this, I would be investigating the origins of 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:40.639 this offer. I would want to investigate why must file 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:46.359 the wrong form when asked the five percent threshold? And 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:53.280 I would be looking into a variety of must potential infractions. 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:58.760 I want to consider whether any of those infractions should 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:04.040 or could impede the progress of his law. For and 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:08.359 weather investors have been harmed. I believe he has done 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:12.840 a lot of serious damage to the way the markets 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:17.439 are supposed to function. Chairman Harvey Pitt, we thank you 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:20.840 so much for your expertise, your insights. There will wonder 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:23.520 if the SEC was listening from New York this Boomberg. 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:33.080 So aside from the world of Elon Masque, here's some 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:35.640 other stories that we are following well. Cuts are coming 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:37.879 a palet in the fitness company is slashing prices for 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:41.000 its major hardware products. The high end bike class is 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:43.560 being cut to five dollars, while the treadmill is being 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:46.040 reduced by a hundred and fifty dollars. The bike is 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:50.320 being reduced by in fact, meanwhile, Palatine is rising, of course, 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:53.199 the price of its monthly subscriptions. It's all part of 0:19:53.200 --> 0:20:00.359 a comeback plan aimed at generating more occurring revenue. Yeah, 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:06.840 welcome back to Blue Bow Technology. I am Caroline Hide 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:08.639 in New York. Let's get back to, of course the 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:11.600 top story you know, masks forty three billion dollar bid. 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.400 Let's discuss a little bit like what on the platform 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:17.080 of Twitter could be changed and what are some of 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:19.800 the concerns about Elon must perhaps taking over that company. 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:22.520 During his tag talk today he mentioned the idea of 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:25.960 free speech and lot essentially that him buying Twitter would 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:29.480 be the ultimate goal. Take listen, I think it's very 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:36.040 important for there will be an inclusive arena for free 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:44.200 speech where oh yeah, so yeah. Um. Twitter has become 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:50.080 kind of the de facto town square. So it's just 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:54.399 really important that people have the both the reality and 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:59.200 the perception that they're able to speak freely within the 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:03.960 bounds of the law. It's de facto town square. Well, 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:05.880 we're going to dig into that thought now. I'm joined 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:08.920 by Jennifer Greigel, Associate Professor of Communications at Syracuse and 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:12.959 an expert social media including platform governance, content moderation. Means, 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:17.919 all of means certainly a strong point of Elon Musk. Jennifer, 0:21:17.960 --> 0:21:21.240 your perspective on what Elon really wants to achieve by 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:25.240 doing this. I mean, I know it put a big 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:27.679 performance on a ted today, but I decided to make 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:30.680 a sandwich instead because it was like time better spent. 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:34.040 I was hungry. Um. But you know, I think, honestly, 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:37.440 even as seeing in that clip, the last person we 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:41.080 want owning a town square is Elon Musk, and certainly 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:45.520 we don't want more big platforms being owned. You know, 0:21:45.600 --> 0:21:48.680 we already see that with Zuckerberg, we see that with others, 0:21:48.720 --> 0:21:51.400 So like this isn't this isn't something that we want 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:54.320 to see happen at this point. There was, of course, 0:21:54.359 --> 0:21:57.119 while you were making a sandwich and maybe potentially still 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:03.680 listening in, there was discuss all um, well more than 0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:06.879 two thousand people, up to two thousand people potentially owning 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:09.919 Twitter with him and perhaps in being some sort of 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:13.760 non for profit. Would that be a direction of trouble? 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:17.560 Does it need to be a public health business? It 0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:20.399 really should be owned by more of those who have 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:24.680 need a real stake in the public square and speech. 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:28.640 But like retail investors, you know, he is not going 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:33.040 to take this over with retail investors. He needs institutional investors. 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:36.080 He needs the big corporates who have these big blocks. 0:22:36.160 --> 0:22:39.400 He uh, he needed people like the Saudi Prince who 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:42.600 is an early investor, Like he just doesn't have the 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:44.800 friends to help him take it over at this point. 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:47.520 And I just don't see the retail investors, even though 0:22:47.560 --> 0:22:50.720 I'm concerned about like public speech and that is kind 0:22:50.720 --> 0:22:54.480 of like represented with those who do retail investing, right, 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:57.800 but like it's it's it's not going to happen with 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:01.560 elon that way, So maybe as another plan, But there's 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:04.000 a lot of people who have a stake in this 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:06.240 and they want the power associated with it. As you 0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:10.679 mentioned Elliott Management Company. These these people aren't necessarily just 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:15.560 interested in making money. They care about the social aspect 0:23:15.680 --> 0:23:20.199 is big platforms like Twitter too, as one hopes the 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:22.159 people who work at Twitter are as well. And it 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:24.480 must be an incredibly towards time if you're currently the 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:27.480