Musk has a fresh chance to make up for self-goals
Live MintIt was dramatic, even for a businessman as given to spectacle as Elon Musk. Last month, a similarly biased poll held by Musk on whether former US President Donald Trump’s account should be restored got 52% ayes. Both these dubious bows to public opinion may seem whimsical, like Musk’s ‘chief twit’ tomfoolery, but also speak of an agenda that extends well beyond making money—into the risky zone of wielding influence. Not only is Musk’s success less of a market outcome than his advocacy of laissez faire may suggest, whiffs of global geopolitics have been sniffed in Twitter stakes reportedly held—perhaps to arched eyebrows in Riyadh—by Saudi Arabia’s Alwaleed bin Talal and Qatar’s sovereign fund. Although Musk’s weekend poll was apparently prompted by another bout of platform policy confusion, this time over links to rival platforms being tweeted, it followed his Doha visit for Sunday’s football World Cup final so closely that West Asian investor feedback could plausibly also claim some credit.