Twitter's last few months, in review

[gracchus]

@Shuck

All these anecdotes vividly paint the picture of a guy who doesn’t seem to be good at anything

He’s good at one thing (beyond being born into an affluent family). Quoting myself:

@gracchus

Musk’s main talent is as a business promoter; not as an entrepreneur, engineer, coder, innovator, visionary, or even as an investor*. He’s operating in the great American tradition of borderline con men like P.T. Barnum and Wilson Mizner, who rely on personal charisma and spectacular stunts to push forward their investments. Such figures always have their true believers.

[* financially speaking, his record there – especially since he forced himself to acquire Twitter – is a wash at best.]

The problem for these types, if they’re incapable of genuine humility, is that they’re quickly exposed as frauds when they come into contact with experts who actually know what they’re talking about and who (unlike the true believers and fanbois) aren’t easily taken in by charisma. If those experts are mistreated they’re going to talk, and promoter’s talent hits a wall.

That’s the result of Musk’s stupid and impulsive decision to buy Twitter: his reputation as a genius has now been decimated as much as his net worth has.