Elon Musk’s Text Exchanges Show Twitter Deal Going Off The Rails

Newly released text messages shine a light on how tech’s most powerful do business — and perhaps why Musk lost interest in Twitter.

On Thursday afternoon, the Delaware Chancery Court released hundreds of text messages between Elon Musk and other relevant parties in the Twitter deal.

Given that it’s Musk, the exchanges are revealing, irreverent, and extremely fun. They’re also a rare look into the inner workings of Silicon Valley dealmaking, giving us some insight into Musk’s process and how he lost interest in his prized acquisition.

This week, we dig into the most revealing exchanges, with some analysis along the way:

3.24.2022

Twitter = Influence

Joe Lonsdale: I love your “Twitter algorithm should be open source” tweet — I’m actually speaking to over 100 members of congress tomorrow at GOP policy retreat and this is one of the ideas I’m pushing for reigning in crazy big tech. Now I can cite you so I’ll sound less crazy myself :) Our public square needs to not have arbitrary sketchy censorship.

Musk: Absolutely

Musk: What we have right now is hidden…