For His Next Trick, Musk Should Take Twitter Public
An IPO defies traditional investment logic, but that has never mattered in the world of Elon.
Twitter could become the ultimate meme stock, a vehicle of perpetual contrarianism.
Photographer: Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images
Even by Elon Musk’s own accounting methods, taking Twitter private has been a disaster. Worth somewhere between half and one-third of the $44 billion he paid for it only seven months ago, the social media platform has become a case study of value destruction. There is an easy fix: Musk should take Twitter public now.
The idea defies traditional logic, of course. In the ordinary world, a primary reason for taking a company private is to improve its operations and profitability before returning it to shareholders. Musk’s world is not ordinary. He has fired more than 80% of Twitter’s workforce, and it shows. Advertisers have fled in droves. He just hired a new CEO.