Toen Elon Musk, de rijkste man ter wereld, Twitter wilde kopen, leidde dat tot een storm van controverse, drama en juridische strijd. In april 2022 deed Musk een gedurfde zet door een groot belang in Twitter te verwerven en bood vervolgens 44 miljard dollar om het hele bedrijf over te nemen. Zijn plan was om het platform van de beurs te halen en de vrijheid van meningsuiting te bevorderen.
Maar al snel werd het ingewikkeld. Musk begon te twijfelen aan het aantal nepaccounts en bots op Twitter en trok de bedrijfsgegevens in twijfel, waardoor hij zich afvroeg of het bedrijf wel echt zoveel waard was. Dit leidde tot een reeks publieke conflicten tussen Musk en het management van Twitter, waarbij Musk in juli 2022 uiteindelijk probeerde de deal af te blazen.
Twitter was echter niet van plan hem zomaar te laten gaan en klaagde hem aan om de overname door te zetten. De juridische strijd was intens, met beide partijen die in de rechtbank hun bewijzen en argumenten presenteerden. In oktober 2022, net voordat de rechtszaak zou beginnen, stemde Musk er uiteindelijk mee in om Twitter voor de oorspronkelijke prijs te kopen.
The story of Elon Musk, the way it’s usually told, makes him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero – or supervillain. He’s the world’s richest man, and now an adviser to the US President. He uses X – his social media platform – to berate politicians he doesn’t agree with around the world.
He plans to put chips in people’s brains, and to save the world by colonising Mars. Musk’s visions of the future seem to stem from the science fiction that has fired his imagination since he was a boy. But what’s the real story, the true history, behind the comic book? Back in 2021 Harvard History Professor and New Yorker Writer Jill Lepore became fascinated by this question.
So she made a Radio 4 podcast which tried to explain Musk through the science fiction he grew up with – tales of superheroes with origin stories that seemed to influence how he understands his own life. So much has happened since then that we decided to update that series – and add three new episodes, too. Because Musk keeps changing, and so does what Lepore calls ‘Muskism’ – his brand of extreme capitalism and techno-futurism. And strangely, his origin story keeps changing, too.
How can understanding these fantasy stories – some of them a century old – help us understand the future Musk wants to take us to?
The story of Elon Musk, the way it’s usually told, makes him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero – or supervillain. He’s the world’s richest man, and now an adviser to the US President. He uses X – his social media platform – to berate politicians he doesn’t agree with around the world.
He plans to put chips in people’s brains, and to save the world by colonising Mars. Musk’s visions of the future seem to stem from the science fiction that has fired his imagination since he was a boy. But what’s the real story, the true history, behind the comic book? Back in 2021 Harvard History Professor and New Yorker Writer Jill Lepore became fascinated by this question.
So she made a Radio 4 podcast which tried to explain Musk through the science fiction he grew up with – tales of superheroes with origin stories that seemed to influence how he understands his own life. So much has happened since then that we decided to update that series – and add three new episodes, too. Because Musk keeps changing, and so does what Lepore calls ‘Muskism’ – his brand of extreme capitalism and techno-futurism. And strangely, his origin story keeps changing, too.
How can understanding these fantasy stories – some of them a century old – help us understand the future Musk wants to take us to?
