Elon Musk and Twitter’s Business Are on a Collision Course
As Twitter’s revenue explodes due to its brand safety push, Musk wants to return it to the freewheeling times of old
Twitter’s toughest business challenge has long been convincing advertisers that it’s a safe place to spend money. The service is fast-moving, emotional, and wildly unpredictable. So your ad — depending on the moment — could appear next to a funny meme or a neo-Nazi flame war. For many marketers, that’s been a reason to stay away.
To solve this problem, Twitter’s recently turned to vigorous content moderation. A company that once deemed itself the “free speech wing of the free speech party” now aggressively polices speech — sometimes to a fault. As it’s become more “brand safe,” ad dollars have poured in. Last year, Twitter made $5.08 billion, up 37% from the year before, its best year on record.
With its business taking off, Twitter is now poised for a fascinating conflict with Elon Musk, its newest board member and largest independent investor. Musk, who bought 9.1% of the company, is not your standard activist investor. Typically, when people make such moves, they do so with the conviction that they can make money by driving change within the business. But Musk seems more interested in changing…
