Musk Buys Twitter Stock, Truth Social a ‘Ghost Town,’ American Broadband’s New CFO
Elon Musk bought a chunk of Twitter shares after expressing dissatisfaction with the platform’s free speech decisions.
Benjamin Kahn
April 4, 2022 – SpaceX founder and longtime Twitter critic Elon Musk became the largest shareholder of Twitter after purchasing 9.2 percent of the social media company’s stock.
The news of Musk’s purchase broke when Securities and Exchange Commission filings were made public on Monday, resulting in Twitter’s stock price jumping by 22 percent. Musk has not kept his criticism of Twitter a secret.
On March 26, echoing many conservative lawmakers, he tweeted a twitter poll where he posed the question, “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” 70.4 percent of respondents answered “no.”
Musk than sub-tweeted a response, stating, “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully,” later tweeting, “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?”
Musk has not explicitly stated whether or not his decision to purchase the stock was directly tied to the results of the poll.
Given Musk’s recent Tweets and condemnation of the platform, there is speculation that he will use his new position as Twitter’s largest shareholder to exercise greater influence in how Twitter is managed.
With more than 80 million followers, Musk has the eighth largest following on Twitter and maintains an active presence on the platform.
Donald Trump’s second attempt at a social media platform founders
Trump’s Twitter copycat Truth Social continues to be plagued by technical problems, leading to a delayed deployment and a stunted audience, according to reports.
Reporters for Business Insider this weekend described the social media platform as “a conservative ghost town that had been overrun by bots.” The platform has been experiencing technical issues since it launched in February.
As of Monday, according to BBC reporting, there were nearly 1.5 million registrants on a waiting list to gain access to their accounts. Devin Nunes, the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group, said that the platform’s goal was to be operational by the end of March, according to the Guardian.
Truth Social represents Trump’s second attempt to create a social media platform.
In May of 2021, following Trump’s forced exodus from Twitter and most other social media in January following the 2021 attack on the Capitol, Trump started “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” a short-lived website whereby Trump could communicate with his followers, though the public had no mechanism for communicating back, short of “liking” or sharing his posts. The web page was shut down less than one month after its activation.
Keith Soldan to serve as American Broadband CFO
On Monday, American Broadband Holding Company announced Keith Soldan’s appointment as the company’s chief financial officer.
“Keith is a skilled financial strategist with a proven record of delivering results,” said American Broadband CEO Chris Eldredge in a press release. “Our commitment remains to be the premier broadband service provider to communities across America.”
This is not Soldan’s first time serving as a CFO. He spent more than 20 years in the telecommunications industry and most recently served as executive vice president and CFO of communications company Fusion Connect.
