Elon Musk's chaotic Twitter takeover reaches a fever pitch

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     November 4, 2022 The tumult at Twitter reached a crescendo this morning with mass layoffs. Roughly half of the social media giant's 7,500-person workforce is expected to lose their jobs one week after Elon Musk [burst into the company with an actual sink](. As folks packed their proverbial bags, Musk powered through the chaos with an [absurd twee](t blaming "activists" for Twitter's precipitous drop in revenue. That doesn't exactly square with reality, of course; advertisers have [reportedly fled Twitter]( out of fear of Musk's proposed changes to the platform's content rules. But I'm certain Musk doesn't care for this explanation, nor does he subscribe to this newsletter. So reality falls on rich deaf ears. But one week into his Twitter takeover, Musk is clearly panicking. He's cash-strapped and alienating advertisers left and right. So as the mess continues to unfold, I want to make sure you read [this excellent takeaway from my colleague Ali Breland]( on the pitfalls of our culture's instinct to lavish praise for simply being rich: Elon Musk’s Twitter timeline is making one of the clearest cases that meritocracy is a myth. The reason Silicon Valley people, to their absolute chagrin, can’t be idolized like the maniacal bankers that came before them, is that they got rich by engineering the precise platforms that make them look awful. I have to assume that Musk wanted to make his life better or cooler when he purchased Twitter. He ended up doing the absolute opposite. Since buying the platform, he rivaled his own all-time self-own (when he [tweeted his way into SEC investigation]() by tweeting, then deleting, a news article from a fake local hoax news website in a reply to the former secretary of state. There is no way to come back from something like that. Is this the beginning of the end for Musk? While I suspect that Ali is likely right here—there indeed aren't many paths available to people who act so irresponsibly—I have a feeling that such a gloomy prediction is reserved for us normal humans. Elon Musk, just like every other obscenely rich white man before him, will be just fine. Just look at Donald Trump. Still, watching Musk, and the myth of his genius, implode in real time is something to behold, isn't it? —Inae Oh Advertisement [Bloomsbury]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Elon Musk Made It His Job To Make Himself Look Dumb]( Keep posting. BY ALI BRELAND [All Online Donations Doubled] This is big! A longtime friend of Mother Jones has pledged an incredibly generous gift to inspire—and double—giving from the Mother Jones community. All online donations will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $94,000 total, to help us finish off our fall fundraising drive by the Wednesday, November 9 deadline. If you can right now, please [pitch in when your gift will be matched]( and go twice as far! [Donate]( [Trending] [Abortion is on the ballot in Arizona. Only one party wants to talk about it.]( BY TIM MURPHY   [Minority rule is coming for progressive prosecutors]( BY EAMON WHALEN   [Polio? Measles? Florida is flirting with an anti-vaccine apocalypse]( BY KIERA BUTLER   [The future of abortion is up for grabs in these states on Tuesday]( BY MADISON PAULY Advertisement [Bloomsbury]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [The internet is full of predators. Omegle lets you meet them.]( “We need to be able to sue tech companies for their negligent, malicious conduct.” BY DAVID ALM Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755