Recently, billionaire and space-goer Elon Musk has been confirmed as a member of Twitter’s board as it was announced he now holds 9.2% of the social media network. It cost him a whopping 2.9 billion dollars. Musk’s interest in and purchase of the social media network is kind of puzzling and raises more than a few questions. One of those questions that have arisen is what this means for the network: will banned accounts—such as former President Donald Trump’s—be let back onto the platform? Will the rules change? The purpose of the network? As of right now in the immediate wake of the news, there is no change spotted on the horizon just yet.
Musk’s history on Twitter is…interesting to say the least. He has had quite his share of controversies, such as the time he accused the British navy diver who helped to rescue a youth soccer team from an underwater cave system of being a pedophile, or the time he infamously tweeted he was going to take Tesla private at $420 per share. This tweet caused an SEC lawsuit on the basis of fraudulent charges and ended up costing Musk millions of dollars in fines. Additionally, he was forced to step down as chairman of Tesla as a result of the chaos.
Despite the various scandals Musk has gotten himself into on Twitter, his interactions on the platform have not been all bad. He did meet his partner and the mother of two of his children, the singer Grimes—also known as Claire Boucher—on the platform. Additionally, he uses the platform to update the public on his various technological advances and accomplishments. Whether it be for better or for worse, Musk has a large presence on the app as its 11th most-followed person. Now that he has bought a significant portion of the company, the questions remain about why he wanted to own such a large part of Twitter and what his plans are for the future. For the time being, there is not much more information about the purchase other than the fact that it happened. For now, all Twitter users can do is wait to see what happens and hope that somehow Donald Trump does not get his account back.
