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What if one of the world’s most important information tools belongs to a volatile billionaire who can do whatever he wants with it?

Yes, I’m talking about Elon Musk. Twitter buy offer For himself, which he announced on Thursday. His bid exceeds $43 billion, which is a lot of money even for Musk, Tesla’s CEO and SpaceX owner. (Musk’s letter The offer to buy Twitter said its purchase would be conditional on finding assistance in paying for the purchase. He didn’t say where the money could come from.)

Will Musk have the cash and attention span to follow the proposed purchase and Twitter will say yes? Who knows? The word “unpredictable” doesn’t deserve this moment. we are already in week 2 Musk and Twitter’s very public and rocky romanceand there may be more oddities to come.

But imagine if Musk eventually bought Twitter from the shareholders who own it today. The closest comparison would be 19th-century newspaper barons like William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer, and the fictional Charles Foster Kane, who used their newspapers to pursue their personal agendas, sensationalize world events, and harass their enemies.

We haven’t really had a Citizen Kane in the digital age, but Musk might. And Twitter’s global influence is arguably bigger and more powerful than any Hearst newspaper of its time.

Jeff Bezos’ acquisition of The Washington Post and Rupert Murdoch’s news media empire is perhaps imminent, but it will be a milestone: the 21st century tech baron’s acquisition of a globally important digital platform with the aim of reshaping it in his own image.

“It would be a throwback to the ‘Citizen Kane’ days of press barons who used their newspapers to advance their favorite causes,” said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan’s business school.

Musk’s favorite idea is a Twitter that works the way he uses Twitter: no bans. He imagines a social network transformed by himself into an example of expression without theoretical boundaries.

basically same step former President Donald J. Trump’s app is what it has for Truth Social. Several other social media sites have also promised to set up internet meetings without arbitrary rules imposed by companies such as Twitter, Google, and Facebook. But these sites are relatively small and unimportant compared to Twitter.

So Musk’s acquisition of Twitter would mean a real-world experiment in a parallel social media app, with no restrictions on what people can do or say. I don’t know how this will look when implemented.

True Social does not allow for absolute free expression. Few people want their social media feeds to be clogged with cryptocurrency, terrorist concentration sites, or spam ads aimed at harassing children. No one is sure what a Twitter account to anyone but Musk will look like. (Interesting question: Musk Restore Trump’s Twitter account?)

I also wonder if Musk really wants it. Having Twitter. It’s fun to imagine what you would do if you were Twitter’s boss, but actually being Twitter’s boss isn’t all that fun. Check out Mark Zuckerberg, who runs Facebook. This guy doesn’t look like he’s having much fun.

“My guess is that Musk enjoys telling Twitter what to do and isn’t very interested in actually getting it done,” Bloomberg Opinion writer Matt Levine said on Tuesday. eerily prescient column.

If Twitter were solely owned by Musk, he wouldn’t have to worry about the whims of stock prices or shareholder demands as Zuckerberg does. But that doesn’t mean Musk won’t be irritated.

Once you have a strong website, you can be on the receiving end of it. Threats from the Russian government to imprison your employees posts they dislike, or a family member asking why a follower is allowed to harass them in their private message. Musk may not want to deal with the ugly details of owning a global influencer, but if he were the sole owner of Twitter, he would have no choice.

I want us to leave a small piece of pity for Twitter’s administrators and administrators. They are in an impossible situation. (Company I said He said the board of directors will “carefully review” Musk’s proposal and decide what he believes is in the best interests of Twitter and its shareholders.)

Twitter’s board may accept Musk’s offer and decide that finding the money to buy Twitter and turn it into an imaginary free speech haven isn’t a very good use of his money, time, and energy. Then Twitter will have a worthless buyout offer, the company’s share price will likely drop, and angry shareholders will likely sue the board.

Twitter’s board may say no to Musk on the theory that the company has a long-term plan to make it far more valuable than what Musk has to offer. In this case, Musk said he could sell billions of dollars in Twitter shares he recently bought. Twitter’s stock price will likely drop, and angry shareholders will likely sue the board.

your twitter relatively new general managerParag Agrawal may prefer to pull his toenails rather than deal with weeks of complicated drama because of Musk. Maybe it’s not so good for Musk to continue making complex dramas on Twitter – though… OK, that’s it. what does he do inside that free time time.

What if Musk achieves what he thinks he wants? If you haven’t seen the movie “Citizen Kane,” I won’t spoil it, but here’s the short version: Kane fulfilled his wildest dreams and was miserable.

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Before you go …

• Good luck delivering Doritos in 30 minutes or less: My colleague Erin Woo writes about GoPuff, a startup that runs small urban warehouses and recently launched crazy services. Get grocery items to people’s doorsteps in 30 minutes or less. GoPuff believes it has beaten the ghosts of Webvan and other bankrupt companies trying to get fresh food to Americans. We’ll see.

• You have to share your W-2 and waive your privacy: The Washington Post reports on the personal information you provide. may be requested to submit to tax return websites How to say no to essentially requests for personal information to drive you more sales or serve ads on TurboTax and H&R Block and other products. (Subscription may be required.)

• Call your agent (his agent is TikTok): TikTok has become a way for music to find a large audience. But Rest of World writes that ByteDance, the app’s parent company, also has a side gig in Brazil and Indonesia. discovering new musicians and distributing and promoting their work — similar to what traditional music companies do.

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The best animal security footage is a headstrong duck. (Turn up the volume for maximum impact.)