WEBVTT - Ed Ludlow on Twitter (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Mr Elon Musk has closed the deal to take Twitter private.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a forty four billion dollar transaction, and now a

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<v Speaker 1>number of top executives will be leaving the company. We

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<v Speaker 1>want to unpack this very briefly with our Ed Ludlow,

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<v Speaker 1>who is Bloomberg's West Coast correspondent. Ed always a pleasure.

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<v Speaker 1>Saga is a bit of an understatement here. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>this was just unbelievable. It's a done deal. Many people

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<v Speaker 1>thought it would get done at a lower price. That

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<v Speaker 1>didn't happen. Forty four billion is what he set out

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<v Speaker 1>to do originally. Where do we go from here? Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>you read the intro. What's happening? Um? You know the

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<v Speaker 1>mechanics of it? Are you know that each shareholder of

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<v Speaker 1>note for Twitter will get fifty four dollars and twenty

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<v Speaker 1>cents for each share that they held. I mean that's

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<v Speaker 1>important to state. Um, you know. The big headline this

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<v Speaker 1>evening is not so much that the deal has closed.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the top four executives at Twitter have left the company. Paragagwel,

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<v Speaker 1>the CEO, Ned Siegel, the CFO, Viget Gadda, who is

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<v Speaker 1>basically chief legal and policy officer, and then Sewan Eedgett,

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<v Speaker 1>who was very senior legal counsel. Um. You know this

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<v Speaker 1>this is the new era, right wit are under mask

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<v Speaker 1>and you know we can talk about kind of what

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<v Speaker 1>will change on the platform and the company. But you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we've had a good sense throughout Thursday here in San

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<v Speaker 1>Francisco that this deal was basically done anyway, The paperwork

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<v Speaker 1>has been been completed for a number of hours now

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<v Speaker 1>and it was just a matter of time. How can

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<v Speaker 1>we be certain about what their platform is going to

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<v Speaker 1>look like going forward? I mean we have Elon Musk

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<v Speaker 1>giving a reassurance to advertisers earlier that Twitter is not

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<v Speaker 1>going to become a forall hellscape another colorful turn of phrase.

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<v Speaker 1>But he wants to project free speech where recent history

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<v Speaker 1>suggests that squaring that circle might be challenging. Are we

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<v Speaker 1>going to see President Trump returned so many unanswered questions? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>I think the the important thing to say is that

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<v Speaker 1>there was a reason that Musk to to take Twitter private? Right?

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<v Speaker 1>Why by Twitter? You know, we've learned throughout this saga,

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<v Speaker 1>and it has been a six month saga that Musk

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<v Speaker 1>was worried about the box issue on the platform. We

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<v Speaker 1>know that Musk was kind of believes that Twitter has

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<v Speaker 1>this big societal influence despite its relative small user base.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, we're talking about two hundred fifty million daily users.

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<v Speaker 1>But you know, when you compare it to say a Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, the user base is much bigger. Um. But

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<v Speaker 1>he felt he couldn't make the changes that he thought

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<v Speaker 1>were necessary to improve Twitter and to safeguard what's good

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<v Speaker 1>about it without taking the company private. So that's done now. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>there are there are some concrete things he's proposed, right,

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<v Speaker 1>open sourcing the algorithm, so there's more transparency. The user

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<v Speaker 1>can understand why a tweet appears in the thigh line

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<v Speaker 1>in the timeline the way that it does, in the

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<v Speaker 1>position that it does. Um, you know, go ahead, Sorry, well,

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<v Speaker 1>no to that point. I mean, I was reading that

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<v Speaker 1>he Musk has asked engineers from Tesla to meet with

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<v Speaker 1>some of the folks over Twitter on the software side.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean that this is the thin end of the wedge,

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<v Speaker 1>isn't it. It is? Yeah, Kurt Wagon and I broke

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<v Speaker 1>that story earlier today. I mean, um, well, part of

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<v Speaker 1>that story is that Elon Musk does not know everything right,

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<v Speaker 1>and he needs to understand very quickly how Twitter the

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<v Speaker 1>platform is built. My understanding is that lots of Twitter

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<v Speaker 1>engineers and products leads were literally buddied up with some

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<v Speaker 1>Tesla engineering talent and they sat down together and taught

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<v Speaker 1>them how the code the powers Twitter works, which is

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<v Speaker 1>an astonishing thing to say out loud, to be honest

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<v Speaker 1>with you. Um, but that's the reality of where we are.

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<v Speaker 1>We know that Musk has been in the building in

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<v Speaker 1>San Francisco in the last twenty four hours talking to staff. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>I'll go to your Trump point. You know, Musk has

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<v Speaker 1>actually been pretty clear on where he stands on the

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<v Speaker 1>future of Twitter. He does not believe in outright bands

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<v Speaker 1>on the platform. He believes in time else So if

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<v Speaker 1>you make a polity breach or if you say something

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<v Speaker 1>that is harmful, rather than blocking or cancer closing your

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<v Speaker 1>account permanently, he thinks you should be suspended for a

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<v Speaker 1>limited period of time. He said that he would bring

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<v Speaker 1>Trump back to the platform. Um, so let's see if

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<v Speaker 1>it happens. We we don't know. Um, you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>think there's also the model. Right. What we heard from

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<v Speaker 1>Musk in this open letter to advertisers this morning, which

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<v Speaker 1>you reference, is that of Twitter's revenue comes from advertising, right,

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<v Speaker 1>He's not just going to do away with that overnight,

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<v Speaker 1>but he has floated different business models, including subscriptions to

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<v Speaker 1>sort of premium tier access to certain Twitter users. If

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<v Speaker 1>you want to see somebody's premium content, and you know

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<v Speaker 1>you want to follow me out at Ludlow and see

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<v Speaker 1>whatever I'm reporting, then he's flowed the idea of paying

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<v Speaker 1>for the privilege of that. Um So, I'd be curious

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<v Speaker 1>to get your your read on what he does down

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<v Speaker 1>the road, but we're not going to have time to

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<v Speaker 1>unpack that and whether he then brings it back into

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<v Speaker 1>a some kind of publicly traded company at some point

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<v Speaker 1>and tries to realize a premium for the time that

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<v Speaker 1>he has spent reorganizing this company. Ed, good stuff. Thank

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<v Speaker 1>you so much for being with us, Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow,

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<v Speaker 1>our West Coast correspondent,