BENGALURU: Amidst the plethora of news that swept past us last week, it was reported that Elon Musk has let go of the Twitter bird - ‘Larry’ - as their logo, and adopted a new name – X.com. Since my first taste of the Internet in the late ’90s, I have seen it evolve into a number of things. Google bought Motorola and Microsoft bought Nokia, hoping for miraculous transformations.
But for the richest man on the planet to buy off a website that has nothing to do with his income – is difficult to wrap my head around. I have to contemplate my decision to step outside to buy groceries for an hour or two. I can’t imagine Musk thinking – ‘I send rockets to space, I develop electric cars. You know what? I’m going to buy Twitter next!’.
Elon Musk enjoys the reputation of being a modern-day disruptor, akin to Iron Man in the movies. In the older days, billionaires appeared to be simple and humble. They dressed in plain shirts and glasses, spoke about eradicating hunger and malaria, and looked like your building secretary. The same isn’t true for modern billionaires. They are entrepreneurs and brand ambassadors rolled into one. New-age billionaires are digital heroes. They appear on podcasts, run their own channels, and give out life advice to the youth of the world.
The day he bought Twitter, Elon Musk walked into the office carrying a sink, one assumes to ‘let it sink in’ that he had made the purchase. A few changes were announced, and heads began to roll. Musk wanted to transform an elephant into a cheetah – by downsizing and focusing on advertising. His latest move is to rechristen the site as X.com, which further accentuates his obsession with the letter ‘X’. After SpaceX, he also named his child XAE12 – the only name in the world that can also serve as a roll number! Also, X.com resembles a site that parents would want their children to stay away from, and one assumes is already on the ‘blocked’ list of numerous engineering colleges.
But just when Twitter was at its weakest, it faced its greatest attack in the form of Mark Zuckerberg. ‘Threads’ was announced to counter Twitter. This must have ruffled some silicon feathers in Silicon Valley, as Elon Musk announced that he wouldn’t mind taking on Zuckerberg in a mixed-martial-arts bout! Indian billionaires are not allowed such indulgences. Our billionaires appear on the news for their philanthropic activities, and people who like to live their lives king-size are rebuked. But Zuckerberg was then seen competing in martial arts matches.
As a student of commerce in what seems like a past life, I used to look up to these billionaires as grounded, stoic people who focused on world problems. Billionaires wrote books and gave speeches at convocation ceremonies. Perhaps it is unfair to expect today’s uber-rich to behave in the same manner. They are businessmen and brand representatives rolled into one. Their opinions on politics and society influence their business and market caps.
Also, having millions of people latch onto your every word must be a dopamine boost equal to none. Today’s billionaires appear to be nerds with clouds full of money, trying to relive their childhoods. Elon Musk buying Twitter is not very different from me purchasing a tabla because I didn’t get to play it as a child. In India, we are asked to focus on our studies for the first 22 years of our lives, after which we can ‘full enjoy’. Billionaires in the US seem to have gotten a whiff of our parents’ advice!
(The writer’s views are his own)