Elon Musk vs. Twitter Part V: Cracks in the Empire

How It Happened

Axios

News, History, Politics

4.8 • 4.6K Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How It Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter Part V: Cracks in the Empire explores whether Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter has made his cross-industry empire too big for one billionaire to run. Host Erica Pandey examines Musk's first months as CEO of Twitter and the simultaneous challenges facing his other companies. Reporting from around the Axios newsroom unpacks lawsuits, a federal investigation, and more facing Musk's other companies, including SpaceX, Tesla, and Neuralink. Credits: This series was reported by the Axios newsroom including Erica Pandey, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, Sara Fischer, Dan Primack, Miriam Kramer, Joann Muller, Javier E. David, Jonathan Swan, Ina Fried, Ashley Gold and Hope King. Fact-checking by Jacob Knutson. Erica Pandey hosts. Amy Pedulla is reporter-producer. Naomi Shavin is senior producer. Scott Rosenberg and Alison Snyder are the series editors. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief and executive producer. Mixing and sound design by Ben O'Brien. Music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz. Thanks to Zach Basu, Lucia Orejarena, Priyanka Vora, and Brian Westley.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Erica Pandy, host of this season of How It Happened.
0:10.0	We waited a bit to drop our last episode as we've been watching and reporting on Elon Musk's
0:15.1	leadership of Twitter.
0:17.0	A few months in, a narrative has started to emerge.
0:22.6	It's been tumultuous.
0:24.9	Both Musk critics and supporters have found plenty of reasons to root against him and
0:30.8	to cheer him on.
0:32.6	And as we watched Musk's takeover play out, it seemed to mark a clear, unmistakable milestone
0:38.7	in his career.
0:40.2	Axios tech managing editor Scott Rosenberg has watched Musk's ascents in the 1990s.
0:46.6	I think someone like Elon Musk has had so many victories in his career that he's sort
0:54.5	of reaches the point of feeling invulnerable, right?
0:58.2	Like he can't lose.
1:00.2	And this is the logic of every sort of conquering emperor, right?
1:06.0	You just keep adding provinces to your empire.
1:10.1	Elon Musk makes companies.
1:13.0	That's what he does.
1:14.8	But every empire reaches a tipping point.
1:18.3	It grows so large that it becomes unruly, unruly even.
1:22.8	It's possible that Musk's takeover of Twitter could be that point for him.
1:29.1	It's not just that chaos Musk's reign has brought to Twitter.
1:33.3	Tesla's stock is falling.
	...

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