March 4, 2024 • 25 mins
When Elon Musk first announced his deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, the billionaire tech mogul believed that his ownership of the company would restore free speech to the masses and even help to preserve humanity. Then, almost immediately, everything went sideways.
Kurt Wagner is a Bloomberg journalist who used his years of knowledge and experience covering social media to write the ultimate book on the story of Twitter: “BATTLE FOR THE BIRD: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter’s Soul.” In the book, Kurt presents a deeply reported, insider exploration into the key moments and decisions that led to Musk’s $44 billion Twitter purchase – and the legal and cultural chaos that soon followed.
Kurt exposes the messy reality and relentless challenges that come with building a global social network, the real-world impact of Musk’s corporate takeover, and employees’ growing horror as Dorsey’s idealistic promises (and the “Twitter” name) go up in flames before their eyes.
--
Visit Barry's Blog for complete show notes.
Kurt Wagner is a Bloomberg journalist who used his years of knowledge and experience covering social media to write the ultimate book on the story of Twitter: “BATTLE FOR THE BIRD: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter’s Soul.” In the book, Kurt presents a deeply reported, insider exploration into the key moments and decisions that led to Musk’s $44 billion Twitter purchase – and the legal and cultural chaos that soon followed.
Kurt exposes the messy reality and relentless challenges that come with building a global social network, the real-world impact of Musk’s corporate takeover, and employees’ growing horror as Dorsey’s idealistic promises (and the “Twitter” name) go up in flames before their eyes.
--
Visit Barry's Blog for complete show notes.
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Death, Sex & Money
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.