Elon Musk (51) has been in the headlines for weeks. Mostly negative. Now a fellow traveler who knows him well is expressing himself. And it doesn’t paint a good picture of the Tesla founder and neo-Twitter owner. Roger McNamee (66) says Musk is a master of manipulation and poses a great risk to democracy. He is an investor in Silicon Valley and former mentor of Mark Zuckerberg (38) in an interview with “SonntagsZeitung”.
If Musk does indeed step down from his CEO position, he will “appoint a straw man who will give him control of Twitter. He wants to keep Twitter, he won’t sell Twitter,” says McNamee. At Twitter, the situation is not hopeless, “Apple saved Musk.” Tim Cook’s (62) unwillingness to stop advertising on Twitter, advertising on Twitter It is an important signal for the economy that giving money is harmless.
“Watch Out”
But McNamee doubts that Musk is really serious about Twitter: “What drives him is his hunger for attention and recognition. Twitter is a soap opera and Musk is his only star.” Twitter is a means to an end: “Musk realized he could control the media if he was distracted by details. That’s why he’s constantly changing the game for Twitter,” says McNamee.
To him, this is clear: “Musk is part of a growing group of Silicon Valley billionaires who see democracy as obsolete and free media as the enemy. Because he is said to be slowing down technological progress.” They wanted a world where they held all the strings and were the uncritical spokespersons for journalists’ views.
“These people live in a bubble!” McNamee tells the “SonntagsZeitung”. They are surrounded by shaking their heads and have little or no contact with the real world. Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sam Bankman-Fried are examples of this trend to undermine public trust and democracy. “If it serves their purpose, they’re okay with hurting their customers.” (be)