Twitter founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey admitted he was mistaken when he mentioned that Elon Musk was the “singular answer” he trusted with the corporate and criticized his one-time pal for going via together with his $44 billion takeover even after he bought purchaser’s regret.
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Over on Twitter competitor Bluesky, a decentralized community just like Mastodon that Dorsey helped begin, the previous Twitter chief struck a harsh tone as regards to Musk and mentioned that it was essential to construct one thing new that may keep away from the destiny of the blue chicken app. Within the roughly seven months since Musk took over, Twitter’s layoffs have made the corporate a shell of what it was, dominated by its new proprietor’s topsy-turvy dedication to “free speech” and vulnerable to technical failures, even for advertisers.
Dorsey made his feedback in response to a query from a Bluesky person who requested, “Do you assume Elon has confirmed to be the very best steward for the platform? Reply earnestly.”
“No,” Dorsey mentioned on Friday. “Nor do I believe he acted proper after realizing his timing was unhealthy.”
Dorsey additionally blamed Twitter’s board, which sued to implement the corporate’s acquisition cope with Musk in July 2022.
“Nor do I believe the board ought to have compelled the sale,” he continued. “All of it went south. But it surely occurred and all we are able to do now’s construct one thing to keep away from that ever occurring once more. So I’m completely happy [Bluesky CEO] Jay and group and nostr devs exist and constructing it.”
Dorsey funded the group that may go on to turn into Bluesky when he was nonetheless CEO of Twitter again in 2019, stating then that, “the objective is for Twitter to finally be a consumer of this customary.” Bluesky introduced in 2022 that Dorsey was becoming a member of the corporate’s board. Dorsey can also be a frequent presence on nostr, one other decentralized social media protocol, and gave 14 bitcoin (about $245,000 at the moment) to fund its improvement final 12 months.
Dorsey went on to say that he believed Musk ought to have simply paid the $1 billion penalty within the takeover settlement to again out of the deal.
“I want the board wouldn’t have compelled the sale. Possibly there was an opportunity, however now we’ll by no means know,” Dorsey said, as reported by the Washington Publish. “I believe he ought to have walked away and paid the $1b.”
It’s not so simple as Dorsey makes it out to be, although. As defined by CNBC, the $1 billion reverse termination price solely utilized if there was some outdoors motive Musk couldn’t full the takeover, equivalent to receiving pushback from regulators or having hassle acquiring financing. Nonetheless, that wasn’t the case, which put Musk on the hook for paying much more than $1 billion.
As for his function in Twitter’s acquisition, Dorsey clarified that regardless of his endorsement of Musk, he didn’t have the ultimate say in approving the sale. He additionally agreed with a Bluesky person who mentioned it was “fairly unhappy the way it all went down.”
“Was I optimistic? Sure,” Dorsey wrote. “Did I’ve the ultimate say? No.”