Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently struck a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion and take it private, has been a prolific user of the platform for over a decade.
He has nearly 85 million followers on the platform with whom he freely shares news, memes, and commentary. He's even expressed interest in buying the platform as early as 2017.
Many of his thoughts around the recent acquisition were also shared on Twitter, including his disdain for the current management and suggestions on how to improve the platform.
Even before this, the billionaire has had a rather turbulent history on the platform, which is worth looking at, since it could inform the future of Twitter.
Musk, who says he makes 50 percent for his tweets "on a porcelain throne", has previously downplayed the Covid-19 pandemic on Twitter, brawled with politicians over taxes, and paid $40 million in fines due to his tweets.
A Tweet That Cost Him $40 Million
Musk is often at loggerheads with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2018, he tweeted that had secured the funding to take Tesla private, driving up the stock price.
The SEC accused him in 2018 of deceiving investors and he had to strike a deal with the regulator to pay $40 million fines, step down as Tesla Chairman and not tweet anything about Tesla without the approval of other company executives.
He said it was "worth it".
That didn't deter Musk who, in 2020, again tweeted about Tesla. "Tesla stock price is too high imo," he said, this time sending the shares plummeting 10 percent.
The SEC said it was looking into the matter, but hasn't done anything as of yet. Musk is now trying to back out of the 2018 deal.
Taxes and politicians
Late in 2021, Democrats in the US were considering a new tax on billionaires that would help with their social care programs.
The proposal would only impact those with over $1 billion in assets, or those who earn more than $100 million for three consecutive years – applying to roughly 700 of the wealthiest people in the US, according to CBS.
Elon was of the opinion that the tax would eventually roll over to a broader set of people – even the middle class. "Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you," he wrote on Twitter.
Musk brought up the tax in another tweet where he proposed selling 10 percent of his Tesla stock. This caused the SEC to launch another investigation against Musk and his brother for allegedly violating insider trading rules.
In February this year, he tweeted a meme that showed a photo of Hitler with the words “Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau, I had a budget" in response to a report that Canadian officials had ordered banks to block cryptocurrency donations related to the trucker convoy protests.
After receiving flak from users and the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum he deleted the tweet.
Downplaying Covid
In 2020, Musk wrote several tweets downplaying certain aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was rapidly spreading across the globe and was poorly understood at that time. The tweets haven't aged well.
In March that year he said that the coronavirus panic was "dumb".
Weeks later he suggested that the US will have "close to zero" new coronavirus cases by the end of April. He also said that kids are "essentially immune" to the virus.
'Pedo Guy'
In July 2018 Musk was heavily criticised for attacking a British diver who helped rescue 12 boys and their football coach who were trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.
Musk offered to assist the rescue mission by providing a submarine, but was turned down. The diver then ridiculed his plan and called it a "PR stunt".
Presumably angry, Musk said that he could prove that the submarine would have been useful during the rescue. “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it," he said.
"Bet ya a signed dollar it's true," he added, without any evidence.
After immediate backlash, Musk deleted the tweet and apologised. Later, Musk doubled down on his stance. “You don’t think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me? He was offered free legal services,” he wrote.
The British diver then sued Musk, who told the court that he had not meant to be literal and that he was upset at the time. “It was wrong and insulting, and so I insulted him back,” Musk said.
This list isn't exhaustive by any means. Musk has been involved in several other antics on Twitter including posting bizarre tweets and, on separate occasions, criticising and expressing his love for Twitter.
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