Watching Musk flail around like a bored toddler instead of focusing on running his businesses makes me so happy I found WB and CM.
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In 2021 and 2022, he had sold about $25b tesla stocks. Twitter is just another attempt to diversify, more will be tried. He is very smart about himself.
FWIW: Elon calls himself a free speech “absolutist”.
He stated that he saw Twitter as an international “town square”, that could be improved for idea sharing, without censorship. Am sure that he expected Twitter’s statistics documented to the SEC about bot activity on the platform, to be far too low. He saw a way to keep twitter more “open” and change the business model somehow based on eliminating bot activity, is my guess.
Elon received a public tweet from the leader of Ukraine requesting Starlink satelite dishes for the Ukrainian defense forces, and sent them immediately. Also, he has done deals for huge battery installations in Australia via Twitter.
His silly tweets are his annoying and because they are so, are low hanging fruit for media.
I do respectfully disagree that he is looking to diversify for diversification sake. Coping with old software is sometimes more difficult than just starting a new software system from scratch.
But that is just my two cents.
I could be very wrong.
jan
:^)
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If you can separate disdain for Elon’s personality shown in the media, listen to him being interviewed in long form online, and see the very hard projects that he has completed with Starship, Falcon rockets, Starlink satelites, tunnels, neuralink, Artificial Intelligence, etc.,
I remember over 20 years ago when I got a friend in Indiana to buy one A share for $15,000. When our acquaintance read about Astrid living with WEB while he was married, they dumped their share, because they thought it too weird and made WEB seem untrustworthy.
They should have held. Notice that the most productive people are sometimes socially weird.
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I remember over 20 years ago when I got a friend in Indiana to buy one A share for $15,000.
(This reply is not very important.)
It was more than 20 years ago. In 2002, prices for A-shares were around $80,000. In August 1996, I paid around $32,000 for A-shares.
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For anybody who cares, I think the best interviews of Elon ever are these done by Tim Dodd. It’s all nerding out over space flight and rockets. You see an engineer extraordinaire in his element, showing off the great stuff his team is doing. The key is that the guy doing the interviewing knows a ton about rockets, so he can actually appreciate what Elon is saying, join in his enthusiasm, and ask great questions.
Although understanding what they’re talking about helps, a fair amount is easily appreciated by anybody. Even if the engineering and the enthusiasm does nothing for you, just getting an inside look at an absolutely huge construction site is a fun experience.
Here’s a list of all the SpaceX stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWzKfs3icbT60mppKe5t7…
This is the best one to watch first, I think, from October, 2019. After a SpaceX status talk at Starbase in Texas, Tim talks to Elon for 15 minutes or so. At the 12 minute mark, they’re done. Bye, thanks. But no, Elon turns around and spends another three minutes talking about how awesome it all is and the engineering of the header tanks and flaps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIQ36Kt7UVg (A conversation with Elon Musk about Starship)
These provide a chance to see all sorts of SpaceX stuff up close:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t705r8ICkRw ([SUMMER 2021] Starbase Tour with Elon Musk [PART 1])
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA8ZBJWo73E ([SUMMER 2021] Starbase Tour with Elon Musk [PART 2])
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zlnbs-NBUI ([SUMMER 2021] Starbase Launchpad Tour with Elon Musk [PART 3])
As do these four more recent ones that have dropped in the last couple of months (links at the first link):
Elon Musk Explains Updates To Starship And Starbase!
Go up SpaceX’s Starship-catching robotic launch tower with Elon Musk!
Elon Musk Explains SpaceX’s Merlin Engine!
Elon Musk Explains SpaceX’s Raptor Engine!
Enjoy!
-IGU-
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This is just recbait. Elon Musk and WEB are very very different. Unless you are a barbell investor, you don’t invest in Berkshire and Tesla simultaneously. While WEB may be good for his investors, a great investor, that’s all he has done. Elon has achieved for more than WEB could aspire. Single handedly brought EV car market a reality. He is a true entrepreneur, great engineer and technologist. WEB never really started any business.
No one really expected Elon to buy Twitter, even Kathy wood sold Twitter stock on Elon’s takeover offer. I consider only uninitiated compare these two.
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JeanDavid,
I stand corrected… our friend must have been bought their one share around or after 1992?
But certainly before the year 2000.
Thanks for pointing out my mistake.
Jan
Of course WEB and Elon are very different in one important way. WEB goes for the bunt. Elon swings for the centerfield fence.
But they are both personally eccentric. One is extremely cautious, and the other takes big risks.
And of course, our 50-50 allocation between these two ways of building a business was a classic dumbbell strategy that I picked up from Rukeyser’s PBS show.
I wish that I had had the stomach to have gone 100% Elon, but what we did was stressful enough.
Both he and WEB have quirks.
But I like that.
jan
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Seriously looking into flying privately… has anyone on this board have experience with Netjets or the like?
Until Full Self Driving Artificial Intelligence is good enough to drive from Supercharger to Supercharger unsupervised, trying a stop gap personal jet trial, sounds like it is worth considering.
Hate driving through mountains and Covid mutations are still to be avoided.
Lysol aerosol anyone?
IGU,
Tim Dodd is awesome.
Check out James Douma, Dave Lee and Rob Mauer. All of these guys do their best to ignore the noise.
Thanks for chiming in.
Jan
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Hardly a mistake jan, you did say over 20 years ago.
Joe 
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In 2021 and 2022, he had sold about $25b tesla stocks. Twitter is just another attempt to diversify, more will be tried. He is very smart about himself.
Diversification is good, most cases. But as a layman, to me Elon’s bid for Twitter seemed wildly–and I mean wildly–overpriced. Twitter’s stock is down a lot and it still seems overpriced by a lot. None of this seems smart to me.
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Check out James Douma, Dave Lee and Rob Mauer. All of these guys do their best to ignore the noise.
Well, the issue I was responding to was people’s opinion that Elon is contemptible. I think the best antidote to that is to actually listen to what he says on a subject he’s passionate about. While those guys may have something to say, watching them say it likely won’t change anyone’s opinion of Elon.
Anyway, yeah, James Douma is great for serious technical insight. Dave Lee I find an overexcitable and foolish waste of time – he’s fond of dwelling on the trivial and irrelevant. I watch his interviews of Douma by skipping over any parts where Dave is talking. Rob Maurer (spelling, dammit) does a great job of dispassionately getting to the facts behind all the daily crapola – I’ve been a Patreon supporter of his for years now.
-IGU-
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Well, the issue I was responding to was people’s opinion that Elon is contemptible. I think the
best antidote to that is to actually listen to what he says on a subject he’s passionate about.
It’s certainly an excellent point that they are different things–no one can doubt that he is gifted at building organizations that get a lot of difficult things done.
That’s a spectacular and rare talent and the world is probably better for the things he has got built.
But similarly, one side of the man does not change the other and can’t offer an “antidote”, just another side to him.
He’s still very much deserving of contempt.
Not because he’s a bad engineer or entrepreneur, but because he breaks laws on such a regular basis: criminal, regulatory, civil, libel, you name it.
It’s probably wonderful for the world that the Twitter deal is falling apart, but he’s simply
breaking a firm contract which had no “out” clause for bots (or the excuse of the day) and contained a complete waiver of due diligence.
Checking the number of bots is due diligence, folks, and he signed a contract saying the sale was not conditional on that.
But lo! now he saves maybe $13bn by flat-out not doing what he agreed to in the contract.
His word is worth pretty much nothing, as we’ve all known for ages, and it seems he’ll swipe billions when it suits him.
The unfortunate thing is that he is so rich and famous, with such a large cult of fans who can not
be reasoned with, that he is entirely untouchable and can continue with complete impunity.
(I expect none of the points in this post to be addressed other than flat denial and ad-hominem attacks…you don’t say bad things about Jesus in public without risking your neck)
Without that impunity, there is no doubt at all he would already be barred for life from being an officer of any public company–there are people in jail for lesser infractions, after all.
I imagine he’ll use his power to negotiate a small penalty from ducking the Twitter deal, rather than what’s appropriate:
the difference between market price and the binding contract number he has now reneged on.
If the price of Twitter stock were $100 right now, and Twitter were trying to back out, you can bet your bottom dollar he’d be suing them to complete the deal.
He certainly does get things done, though. I bet he could make the trains run on time.
Jim
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Seriously looking into flying privately… has anyone on this board have experience with Netjets or the like?
I looked into it a little earlier this year. Hey, phone calls and emails are free right?
Netjets is sold out and not taking any more flight card customers this year according to the website.
At charter companies near me the per hour flight time costs ranged from ~$3k/hr for a turboprop, ~$5k/hr for a 6 passenger jet, and $8k+ for 8 passenger and larger jets. Remember, if you are staying more than about 2 nights at your destination you will likely have to pay for two empty legs for a round trip.
If those prices don’t scare you off just start calling some charter companies near you. I found all of them to be extremely helpful.
Jeff
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Criminal?
That is a bold statement.
I wish that you had looked deeper at Tesla back in the day, the way that Michael Servett did.
Your emotions about your failed short positions have kept you from making a powerful allocation.
But truth be told, decrying the success of Musk’s businesses, just sounds like “you protest too much”.
There is still money to be made in TSLA, but dabbling in options and writing about it, will not give you the home run that we have been fortunate to experience and still hope for.
Businesses growing 50% per year while the share price consolidates may produce a huge pop to the upside in the future. How you can focus on the short term and miss the long term is heartbreaking.
WEB (jesus) taught us about the punch card of only a few lifetime share transactions and his buy forever portfolio of things like AMEX. So little of what you write about employs Warren and Charlie’s lessons about investing.
Wish I had gone long 100%. Do you wish you had allocated 1% to a buy and hold TSLA allocation instead of gambling on options?
Jeez…
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I read the contract.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1546344529460174849?s=21…
it is likely that Twitter has lied to the SEC.
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Thank you Jeff…
Will give them a call.
-IGU-
Correct about long form interviews of Musk.
Just wanted to add these other guys for those who do not have the time or inclination to allocate the time.
There is a wonderful financial analyst who posts on twitter.
His name is James Stephenson, he really does intricate and impressive spreadsheets.
@ICannot_Enough is James.
His work is impressive, IMHO.
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