Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that he is willing to acquire Substack, which enables independent authors and podcasters to publish directly to their audience and get compensated through subscriptions, after he recently spent a staggering $44 bιllιon for Twitter.
Musk responded to a user who questioned whether it would make sense for Twitter to pᴜrchase Substack and further integrate the two platforms, saying, “I’m open to the notion.”
The user wrote in a post that “Twitter with Substack generates instantly tremendous competition for outmoded legacy corporate media.”
Musk’s response came after he observed the mainstream and corporate media’s lackluster reception to the numerous iterations of the “Twitter Files” that he had made public via independent journalists.
Why does corporate journalism rush to support the government rather than the people? Musk pressed on.
The independent journalist and documentary filmmaker Leighton Woodhouse had written on Substack that “mainstream journalists’ attitude to the Twitter Files is that of a profession committed to preserving the state instead of exposing it.” The Twitter CEO was responding to him.
A US-based web platform called Substack offers the publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure needed to support subscription newsletters.
Direct digital newsletter distribution to subscribers is made possible by this.
Chris Best, a co-founder of Kik Messenger, Jairaj Sethi, a developer, and Hamish McKenzie, a former tech reporter, established Substack in 2017.
America’s richest lost $660bn collectively in 2022 — Elon Musk lost the most
Bιllιonaires had a difficult year.
According to Forbes, the cumulative losses of the world’s bιllιonaires in 2022 were close to $2 trillion. According to Forbes, American millionaires lost $660 bιllιon collectively as tech stock values plummeted as a result of rising interest rates, skyrocketing inflation, and a deteriorating economy. This loss was the largest of any nation.
Elon Musk, the recently appointed CEO of Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla were the bιllιonaires in America who saw their wealth decline the greatest. According to Forbes, Musk’s net worth decreased by around $115 bιllιon this year.
When Musk paid $44 bιllιon for Twitter in October, he raised the money by selling $23 bιllιon worth of Tesla stock. He has later admitted that this transaction involved a “obvious” overcharge. His intention to leave his position as CEO of the social media network once he finds a competent successor was recently disclosed.
As of December 27, the stock price of Tesla had fallen by about 70% for the year. Longtime Tesla investors are urging the company’s board of directors to persuade Musk to return his attention to the maker of electric vehicles.
Although Musk lost the title of world’s richest person this year, Forbes estimates that his net worth as of Dec. 27 was close to $139 bιllιon, making him the richest American.
Musk is not the only bιllιonaire whose net worth decreased, yet this publication calls him “the biggest loser of 2022.” According to Forbes, five additional American millionaires lost the following amount in 2022.
1. Jeff Bezos
Title: Founder and chair, AmazonEstimated 2022 losses: -$80 bιllιon Net worth: $106.8 bιllιon as of Dec. 27
2. Mark Zuckerberg
Title: Co-founder, Meta Platforms (Facebook’s parent company)Estimated 2022 losses: -$78 bιllιon Net worth: $42.7 bιllιon as of Dec. 27
3. Larry Page
Title: Co-founder and board member, GoogleEstimated 2022 losses: -$40 bιllιon Net worth: $76.8 bιllιon as of Dec. 27
4. Phil Knight
Title: Chair, NikeEstimated 2022 losses: -$18.3 bιllιon Net worth: $45.2 bιllιon as of Dec. 27
5. Leonard Lauder
Title: Chair emeritus , The Estée Lauder CompaniesEstimated 2022 losses: -$9.8 bιllιon Net worth: $22 bιllιon as of Dec. 27
Some high-profile moguls completely dropped off of the bιllιonaires list in 2022. Rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, fell from the ranks after Adidas cut ties with him on Oct. 25 amid his continued anti-Semitic remarks, for example.
And Sam Bankman-Fried went from Fortune magazine cover star to potential felon. The founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency trading platform FTX, who is now charged with fraud, saw his net worth plummet by bιllιons after FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.