Three Ways the Elon Musk–Twitter Showdown Could End

Plain English with Derek Thompson

The Ringer

News Commentary, News

4.7 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 July 2022

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Well, that escalated quickly. Let's review, shall we? In January, Elon Musk started buying a bunch of Twitter stock. In February, he kept buying. In March, he owned about 5 percent of the company. In April, he offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion. In May, he tweeted a poop emoji. In June, his net worth crashed. In July, he tried to back out of the deal—and Twitter countersued. It seems very clear from the company's lawsuit that Twitter is prepared to take this all the way, possibly to even force Musk to acquire the company against his will. Big picture, Twitter is in an incredibly strange position. The company's lawsuit portrays Musk as if he's a wayward, flighty, bad-faith grown toddler. But Twitter is also is trying to force this very same wayward, flighty, bad-faith grown toddler to be the proud owner of Twitter. “You’re a jerk, and I hate you, now marry me!" is a weird message to send, even if it makes sense for the Twitter board to pursue this strategy, within the logic of shareholder capitalism. So, who's got the best argument? How will this thing end? Today's guest is Boston College Law School professor Brian Quinn. We do a deep dive into the documents of interest here—what Musk is saying, what Twitter is saying, and who’s got the strongest case. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Brian Quinn Producer: Devon Manze Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	What's up everybody? Are you tuning in to the challenge USA on CBS? Well, tune in to me,
0:05.7	Tyson Apostle, as I break down each and every episode with my co-host, Emilia Wedamire.
0:11.3	I'm also a contestant on the show, which gives you all the insider scoop. Emilia, how stoked
0:16.4	are you to do this? Tyson, I'm freaking excited. I cannot wait to sit my butt down every single week
0:21.6	to watch the show, then come here and recap it with you on the Ringer Reality TV podcast.
0:30.9	How have they done enough? Can they pull it out the bag? Does the ref have a clue when you're
0:41.9	shouting at the screen? Blow your whistle! There's no feeling like live TV.
0:50.2	However you watch, a TV licence is your must-have pass to over 400 live TV channels,
0:55.6	and it also films the BBC. Search TV licence.
1:26.1	Today, three ways the Musk Twitter showdown will end. We've got a corporate law expert
1:33.3	on the show to discuss the breakup, what both sides are saying, and whether either side is making
1:39.3	any sense. But first, a brief history of this extraordinary romance. Twitter and Musk,
1:47.0	Beauty and the Beast. In January, this year Musk started racking up Twitter stock.
1:52.4	By March, he had owned about 5% of the company. At the end of March, Musk has a meeting with Twitter,
1:58.8	and their founder and former CEO, Jack Dorsey. Jack apparently endorses the idea of Musk maybe
2:04.1	taking over Twitter, joining the board, helping to reorient the company. So Elon joins the board,
2:09.8	and then days later Elon leaves the board, that he makes Twitter an offer. He says,
2:13.5	I'll give you $54.20. Get it? $54.20 per share in cash. He's got the financing.
2:21.5	Twitter sport thinks, hmm, as a fiduciary matter, we kind of have to do this. We have to maximize
2:26.4	shareholder value here, even though this is an awfully goofy offer. Can we really say no to this?
2:31.5	Do we have a better plan to maximize shareholder value? They decide the answer to that question
2:36.4	is no. They say yes to Elon Musk. They sign an agreement. The date is April 25th.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Ringer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Ringer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.