According to reports, according to an upcoming biography, Elon Musk ignored the warnings of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and his brothers and other cronies, and still insisted on going his own way, ultimately scaring away Twitter advertisers.
The biography, written by Walter Isaacson, shows that as the boss of Twitter (now renamed X), Musk had many wealthy and powerful advisers, but he habitually ignored their advice. When Musk's acquisition of Twitter attracted widespread attention and he sent out some provocative tweets, Zaslav warned at the time that his "self-destructive" behavior would scare away advertisers.
The book, due out this week, says Zaslav suggested Musk should focus on improving videos and creating better ads.Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm and Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal Musk also warned Musk,The controversy caused by X will damage Tesla's brand image.
But the billionaire didn't seem to see anything wrong with his behavior and even hit back. The book states that he ignored the advice of former Intel CEO Bob Swan (Swan provided financing advice for Musk's acquisition of Twitter) and repeatedly rejected the views of attorney Alex Spiro and wealth manager Jared Birchall.
Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter has led to the social media company facing criticism from many groups, including users accusing the company of ruining the user experience, while advertisers and interest groups have criticized it for allowing the spread of hate speech.
Since Musk took the helm, Twitter has undergone a series of changes, including layoffs in the trust and safety team, unblocking accounts that had been previously blocked for violations, and removing the verification logos of celebrity accounts that have not paid. These changes not only scared away advertisers, but also alienated many users. Musk revealed in July this year that Twitter’s advertising revenue had been halved. The company responded that it was addressing harmful content through a series of measures.
But at the time, Musk did follow the advice of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. Ellison asked him to avoid conflict with Apple.
In November last year, Musk accused Apple of suspending advertising on his platform. But Ellison reminded him not to jeopardize the relationship because Apple was an important advertiser and X needed to stay on the iPhone's App Store. Musk then contacted Apple CEO Tim Cook in an attempt to repair the relationship.
Musk also has a number of influential personal advisers, including venture capitalists David Sacks and Marc Andreessen. In the book, Isaacson portrays Musk as an impulsive decision-maker who often wavered between listening to his advisers' advice and ignoring them.
Sometimes, Isaacson writes, he even seemed to take pleasure in not following their advice. But one thing remains consistent: once Musk has his own ideas, not even the people closest to him can change them.