Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, once a strong supporter of Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media platform, now has some harsh words for the company’s new boss.
A year ago, Dorsey called the billionaire’s proposed takeover a “singular solution” for Twitter, writing that “I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.” But when a user of fledgling social network Bluesky recently asked Dorsey if Musk has proved to be the right person to lead Twitter, Dorsey was blunt.
“No. Nor do I think he acted right after realizing his timing was bad,” Dorsey wrote on Bluesky. “Nor do I think the board should have forced the sale. It all went south.”
Musk reached a deal to buy Twitter in April 2022 for $44 billion, then changed his mind, ultimately ending up in court and completing the acquisition in October.
Since the purchase, the Tesla CEO has slashed Twitter’s staffing by about three-quarters and presided over a series of dizzying changes, including reinstating accounts that were banned for rule violations, then re-banning some of them when they broke the rules again; requiring users to pay for “verified” status; and leaning into the subscription model. Musk has also said the company is on the verge of bankruptcy and vowed to step down as CEO of Twitter once a replacement is found.
Dorsey wrote that “we did everything to avert” Twitter’s failure, but that ultimately he was powerless to stop the sale.
“If Elon or anyone else wanted to buy the company, all they had to do was name a price that the board felt was better than the company could do independently,” he wrote. “Was I optimistic? Yes. Did I have final say? No.”
“He should have walked away”
Dorsey also said Musk should have dropped the acquisition deal and paid a $1 billion penalty.
“I think he should have walked away and paid the $1b,” Dorsey wrote.
However, many experts said at the time that abandoning the deal would have cost Musk much more than a $1 billion penalty written into the agreement.
Dorsey started backing Bluesky, a decentralized social application, in 2019, when he was still CEO of Twitter. The new social app is currently in private beta.
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