Introduction
In the fast-paced world of social media, few stories have captured the attention of the public quite like Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. Zoë Schiffer's book, "Extremely Hardcore," offers a detailed and engaging account of this tumultuous period in the history of one of the world's most influential social media platforms.
The story begins with a simple tweet from Elon Musk in 2010, confirming his identity on the platform. Little did anyone know that this would be the start of a journey that would lead to one of the most dramatic upheavals in Silicon Valley history. Schiffer's book takes us through the twists and turns of Musk's acquisition of Twitter, the subsequent changes he implemented, and the far-reaching consequences of his actions.
The Rise of Elon Musk
Before diving into the Twitter saga, it's essential to understand Elon Musk's background and his rise to becoming the world's richest man. Musk's journey to fame and fortune began in 1999 when he sold his startup, Zip2, to Compaq for $300 million. This windfall allowed him to invest in X.com, an online financial services company that eventually became PayPal.
Despite being ousted from PayPal, Musk's fortunes continued to grow. The sale of PayPal to eBay in 2002 provided him with the funds to pursue his next big dream: space exploration and the colonization of Mars. This led to the creation of SpaceX, which has since become a major player in the aerospace industry.
Simultaneously, Musk invested heavily in Tesla, an electric car company that would eventually make him the richest person in the world. By 2020, Tesla had become the world's most valuable automaker, cementing Musk's status as a tech visionary and business mogul.
Twitter's Troubled History
While Musk was building his empire, Twitter was facing its own set of challenges. Founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey and his co-founders, Twitter quickly became a hub for influential voices in politics, sports, and media. However, despite its cultural impact, the platform struggled to turn a profit and faced ongoing challenges with its business model and content moderation.
These issues came to a head during the 2020 US presidential election when Twitter became a battleground for political discourse and disinformation. The platform's content moderation team, led by individuals like Yoel Roth, found themselves at the center of debates about free speech and the responsibility of social media platforms.
The tipping point came in the wake of the January 6th Capitol riot, which resulted in the permanent suspension of Donald Trump's Twitter account. This decision highlighted the ongoing tension between free speech and the need to prevent the spread of harmful content on the platform.
Musk's Twitter Obsession
Elon Musk's relationship with Twitter was complex long before he considered acquiring the company. He was an active user of the platform, often using it to share updates about his companies, make controversial statements, and engage with his followers. However, he also had a long-standing obsession with fake Twitter users and bots, which would later play a significant role in his takeover of the company.
Musk saw himself as a champion of free speech and was critical of Twitter's content moderation policies. He believed that the platform was stifling open dialogue and that it needed to be transformed into a true "digital town square" where all voices could be heard.
In early 2022, Musk began buying Twitter shares in significant amounts. By April 4th, he disclosed that he owned 9.1% of the company, making him the largest individual shareholder. This move set the stage for what would become one of the most dramatic corporate takeovers in recent history.
The Bumpy Acquisition
Initially, Musk seemed content to join Twitter's board of directors at the invitation of CEO Parag Agarwal. However, this arrangement was short-lived. Musk quickly grew frustrated with what he perceived as a lack of aggressive leadership and innovation at Twitter. He was particularly annoyed by the platform's persistent bot problem and the lack of active engagement from Twitter's top executives.
Musk's public interest in Twitter caused the company's stock to surge by 27%, but not everyone was thrilled about his involvement. Many Twitter employees, known internally as "Tweeps," were concerned about Musk's controversial reputation and how it aligned with Twitter's values. Some worried that his leadership style would negatively impact the company culture, as it had reportedly done at Tesla.
Undeterred by these concerns, Musk made an offer to buy Twitter outright for $54.20 per share, valuing the company at around $44 billion. After some initial resistance, the board accepted Musk's offer on April 25th, locking in a seller-friendly agreement with a hefty $1 billion reverse breakup fee.
However, Musk soon appeared to get cold feet. He began to express concerns about the number of bots and spam accounts on the platform, despite these being issues he had previously claimed he would fix. Twitter threatened legal action if Musk failed to follow through on the deal, partly because Twitter's share prices were dropping as Musk aired his grievances publicly.
Throughout the summer of 2022, Musk's legal team tried to find a way out of the deal. But as the October court date approached, it became clear that Musk had no viable escape route. On October 4th, he agreed to proceed with the original terms of the acquisition if Twitter dropped its lawsuit.
The Takeover Begins
On October 26th, 2022, Elon Musk made his dramatic entrance into Twitter's headquarters, carrying a porcelain sink and tweeting "let that sink in." This grand gesture was designed to go viral but did little to ease the concerns of Twitter's employees, who remained uncertain about what the future under Musk's leadership would hold.
Musk arrived with a team of advisors and engineers from his other ventures, including Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink. The Twitter employees dubbed this transition team "the goons," as they quickly became a constant presence in the office.
While some employees, like former Google engineer Emmanuel Cornett (known as Manu), remained optimistic about Musk's potential to drive innovation, many others were apprehensive. Musk's primary focus appeared to be on cutting costs, and one of his first actions was to fire about half of Twitter's staff overnight, amounting to around 3,700 people.
The layoffs were carried out in a brutal fashion. Managers were given lists of their employees and tasked with quickly coming up with one-sentence explanations for why each one shouldn't be fired. On his first night, Musk also fired key executives, including CEO Parag Agarwal, CFO Ned Siegel, Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadi, and General Counsel Sean Edgett.
Deep Cuts and Their Consequences
The cuts went deep, affecting crucial teams such as trust and safety, brand safety, and FTC compliance. Whole departments were eliminated, including the ethical AI team. In India, 90 percent of the staff were laid off, leaving just a dozen employees to manage a crucial market.
These cuts had immediate and far-reaching consequences. The reduction in brand safety and content moderation teams was particularly impactful. Prior to Musk's tenure, Twitter had been financially stable thanks to advertisers who had come to trust and rely on these teams. Now, there was a sense of unpredictability and an increased risk that brands could have their ads appear next to hate speech or other problematic content.
As a result, major brands like General Motors, General Mills, Audi, and Pfizer began to pull back their advertising spend, which hit Twitter's revenue hard. This financial impact would continue to be a significant challenge for Musk's Twitter throughout his tenure.
Twitter Blue and the Verification Fiasco
One of Musk's first major projects was the overhaul of Twitter's verification system through a new subscription model called Twitter Blue. Musk felt that the previous verification system was too elitist and that a subscription model might solve the advertising problem and increase revenue.
Musk assigned the Twitter Blue project to a team and gave them a tight deadline of November 7th to finish it, threatening to fire them if they failed. This approach set the tone for Musk's leadership style: demanding rapid changes without thorough testing or consideration of potential consequences.
When Twitter Blue launched in November, it was an immediate disaster. The service saw fewer than 61,000 subscribers in its initial days, and many already verified accounts posted tweets questioning the logic behind allowing anyone to pay for verification.
The plan resulted in a flood of fake accounts, including one that claimed to represent the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. This fake account tweeted that the company was now selling insulin free of charge, causing Eli Lilly's stock to drop 4.37% and leading the company to pause all advertising on Twitter.
In those first days, the subscription model was potentially costing the company millions in ad revenue while only bringing in around $488,000. Twitter Blue was quickly rolled back, but despite internal pushback, Musk remained committed to relaunching it.
The "Extremely Hardcore" Email
As the challenges mounted, Musk sent an email to all Twitter employees titled "A Fork in the Road." In this email, he demanded that employees commit to an "extremely hardcore" work ethic or leave with severance. The employees were given just 36 hours to decide their future with the company.
This ultimatum did not go over well. Only around 25% of Twitter's software engineering team planned to stay, while nearly 1,000 employees used it as their reason to leave. Twitter's staff went from 7,500 in October to just 2,700 in November.
Musk had anticipated that some employees wouldn't sign up for his vision, but he didn't expect to lose so many developers. This mass exodus of talent would have long-lasting effects on Twitter's ability to maintain and improve its platform.
Code Reviews and Further Cuts
In addition to the "extremely hardcore" email, Musk implemented a round of in-person code reviews. While ostensibly aimed at improving code quality, a later employee lawsuit (Arnold vs. XCOR) claimed that these reviews were a deceitful pretext to come up with "for-cause" firings, allowing Musk to avoid costly severance packages.
Throughout this period, Musk continued to make cuts wherever he could. He refused to pay rent for Twitter's San Francisco offices and fired the janitorial staff, leading to unsanitary conditions. He also sought to terminate various contracts and reduce spending on cloud services.
These cost-cutting measures led to more lawsuits and resignations from employees. Despite the turmoil, some employees, like engineer Randall Lynn, remained optimistic about Musk's potential to make Twitter more efficient. Lynn even won Musk over with a pitch to buy GPUs instead of relying on a Google Cloud contract. However, even Lynn was eventually fired for erroneous reasons, highlighting the unpredictable nature of Musk's management style.
Free Speech Champion or Hypocrite?
One of Musk's stated reasons for acquiring Twitter was to champion free speech on the platform. He reinstated accounts of controversial figures like neo-Nazis Andrew Anglin and Patrick Casey, arguing that all voices should be heard on the platform.
However, Musk's commitment to free speech was called into question when he banned the @ElonJet account, which used public data to track Musk's private jet. Not only did he ban this account, but he also suspended the accounts of reporters who simply covered the story behind the banned account for their publications.
Further contradicting his free speech stance, Musk complied with censorship requests from the Turkish government to suppress tweets from certain political candidates during their elections. These actions alienated even some of Musk's supporters and led to more employee resignations and firings.
The inconsistency in Musk's approach to free speech raised questions about his true motivations. Was he genuinely committed to creating a platform for open dialogue, or was he more concerned with protecting his own interests and those of his allies?
Platform Issues and Outages
By the end of 2022, it was clear that Musk's decision to prioritize speed over safety was causing numerous problems. The platform experienced frequent outages, and despite Musk's efforts to shift to a subscription-based model, Twitter Blue failed to gain significant traction.
The rapid changes and lack of thorough testing led to a series of technical issues that frustrated users and further damaged Twitter's reputation. The platform's reliability, which had been a key strength, was now in question.
The Relaunch of Twitter Blue
Despite the initial failure, Musk was determined to make Twitter Blue a success. In March 2023, he announced the relaunch of the service, stating that blue checkmarks would soon be removed from users who didn't subscribe. Only Blue subscribers would get preferential algorithm treatment, making their tweets more likely to be recommended.
This move sparked another backlash, with celebrities like LeBron James and Halle Berry openly stating they wouldn't pay for the subscription. On April 20th, Twitter started removing legacy checkmarks from celebrities and journalists, leading to chaos as impersonations of high-profile figures once again proliferated.
The backlash highlighted a fundamental misunderstanding on Musk's part. The blue badge wasn't the elitist symbol that he had suggested it was; it had been a reliable symbol of legitimacy. Now, it was seen by many as a mark of endorsement for Elon Musk, which some viewed as a badge of dishonor.
Despite a spike in Twitter Blue signups following the removal of legacy checkmarks, the financial impact was minimal. By May 2023, internal documents revealed that only 535,000 users had signed up for Blue, far short of the numbers needed to offset the loss in advertising revenue.
Competition and Declining Metrics
As Twitter struggled under Musk's leadership, competitors saw an opportunity. In July 2023, Meta executive Adam Mosseri released Threads, a Twitter competitor that quickly gained 100 million users. Musk's attempts to downrank rival tech firms on Twitter didn't help stem the tide.
Threads' rapid growth underscored Twitter's struggles, with users and engagement metrics dropping significantly. Many users, frustrated with the changes at Twitter, were eager to try alternatives that offered a more stable and familiar experience.
The Rebranding to X
In July 2023, Musk announced that Twitter would now be known as X. This rebranding was part of Musk's long-held vision of creating an "everything app" that would combine social media, financial services, and other features.
Some employees were relieved to finally put the Twitter name behind them and acknowledge that Musk's vision bore little resemblance to what they'd been working on before. They also had a new CEO, former NBCUniversal chairman Linda Yaccarino, who was brought in to help stabilize the company and rebuild relationships with advertisers.
However, the rebranding did little to solve the underlying issues plaguing the platform. By most reliable metrics, hate speech and disinformation had been on the rise since Musk's takeover, and the platform's value continued to plummet.
Ongoing Legal Battles and Financial Struggles
As the months went on, Musk's Twitter (now X) faced numerous legal challenges. By October 2023, the company was dealing with multiple lawsuits and arbitration claims from former employees, many related to the mass layoffs and alleged violations of labor laws.
Financial struggles also continued to plague the company. Despite efforts to revitalize the platform and attract new users, monthly ad revenue continued to decline. The loss of major advertisers, combined with the underwhelming performance of Twitter Blue, left the company in a precarious financial position.
The Vision vs. Reality
Musk often said that he envisioned Twitter as an important "town square" where all voices and opinions could be heard and debated. However, his actions often seemed at odds with this vision. Rather than fostering a creative and collaborative environment, many former employees described a culture of fear where the primary goal was to appease Musk or risk being fired.
The rapid changes, lack of strategic planning, and inconsistent application of policies led to a platform that was less stable, less trusted, and less influential than it had been before Musk's takeover. The dream of creating a true digital public square seemed further away than ever.
Impact on the Tech Industry
The Twitter saga under Musk's leadership had far-reaching implications for the tech industry as a whole. It raised important questions about the role of billionaire owners in shaping public discourse platforms, the balance between free speech and content moderation, and the responsibilities of social media companies to their users and society at large.
The story also highlighted the potential pitfalls of rapid, top-down changes in established tech companies. The loss of institutional knowledge and experienced staff at Twitter served as a cautionary tale for other companies considering drastic restructuring.
Lessons Learned
Several key lessons emerged from the Twitter takeover story:
The importance of thoughtful leadership: Musk's impulsive decision-making and lack of strategic planning led to numerous avoidable problems.
The value of institutional knowledge: The mass layoffs at Twitter resulted in the loss of crucial expertise, impacting the platform's ability to function effectively.
The delicate balance of content moderation: Musk's attempts to create a "free speech haven" often backfired, highlighting the complex challenges of moderating a global social media platform.
The power of advertising in social media: Twitter's financial struggles underscored the critical role that advertisers play in the business models of many social media platforms.
The risks of personalized leadership: Musk's personal views and preferences often seemed to drive decision-making at Twitter, sometimes to the detriment of the platform and its users.
Conclusion
Zoë Schiffer's "Extremely Hardcore" provides a detailed and nuanced look at one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of social media. The story of Elon Musk's Twitter takeover is more than just a tale of corporate drama; it's a reflection of broader issues facing the tech industry and society as a whole.
From the initial excitement surrounding Musk's acquisition to the subsequent chaos and decline, the book offers valuable insights into the challenges of running a global social media platform. It raises important questions about the future of public discourse in the digital age, the role of billionaire tech leaders, and the responsibilities of social media companies.
As Twitter continues to evolve under its new identity as X, the lessons from this period will likely influence discussions about technology, free speech, and corporate governance for years to come. Whether Musk's vision for the platform will ultimately succeed remains to be seen, but the story of his Twitter takeover will undoubtedly be remembered as a pivotal moment in the history of social media.
In the end, "Extremely Hardcore" serves as both a cautionary tale and a fascinating case study of what happens when visionary ambition collides with the complex realities of managing a global platform that plays a crucial role in public discourse. It's a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, media, and society in the 21st century.