Musk, Trump, and Twitter: A Tale of Wealth, Power, and Corruption
Elon Musk turned Twitter into a breeding ground for conspiracy theories and disinformation, wielding his wealth to undermine democracy and help elect a convicted felon.
In the world of tech billionaires, Elon Musk’s influence has often been described as revolutionary. The Tesla and SpaceX founder is a man who turns his whims into transformative enterprises, reshaping industries with a mix of audacity and capital. But in 2022, Musk embarked on a project that would veer into far darker territory. His purchase of Twitter1, a global platform often likened to a digital town square, did not just disrupt a social network. It became a vehicle for spreading conspiracy theories, undermining public trust, and, ultimately, swaying a U.S. presidential election in favour of a convicted felon2.
The saga began on April 14, 2022, when Musk, seemingly on impulse, offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion. His justification was both grandiose and ominously vague: Twitter, he claimed, had become politically skewed, and for the platform to “deserve public trust,” it had to be politically neutral. Observers debated whether Musk’s motivations were genuine or self-serving, but by…