I don’t especially like the notion of any person having that much money either. On the other hand, it’s not as though billionaires keep their money locked up in a vault somewhere. The money is tied up in businesses that create products, services, and employment for people. In addition, their wealth isn’t a measure of their personal disposable income; it’s measured in the stock market valuation of the companies they invest in, which typically exceeds the practical nuts and bolts value of companies by several times. In other words, much of it is money that doesn’t exist except on paper.
What bothers me more about someone like Musk is closer to your main point about societal irresponsibility — indulging in impulsive personal whims that seem more like a 10-year-old child wasting his allowance money than a responsible adult who acknowledges the broader societal responsibility that should accompany that kind of wealth.
I’ve never been a fan of Bill Gates, but I am a fan of what he’s devoted the latter part of his life — figuring out ways to use his wealth to help humanity. According to Fortune magazine, Gates has donated more than $50 billion to efforts to eradicate diseases and provide educational opportunities in poorer countries worldwide. Musk, in contrast, blows away similar amounts of money by indulging in asinine and irresponsible comments on social media and seemingly impulsive man-child decisions about redecorating his playroom with X’s instead of birds.
After many residential complaints it’s been taken down.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – The large and bright ‘X’ logo that sat on top of the San Francisco headquarters of the company formerly known as Twitter has been taken down.
And now, the company will be fined for installing the logo on the roof without a permit.
On Friday, a notice of violation was issued to the property owner of the X headquarters at 1355 Market, according to the Department of Building Inspection in San Francisco.
I really like this shot from the NPR story on this. Wonder what fly-by-night installed that? Yes, those are what amounts to sandbags, holding down a structure, outdoors, 8 stories over people.
Guess he (or those behind him) is (are) communicating X-files alike hype … goes with the transhumanistic flow of ea-determinists that actually made him what he is … cant catch different personal obsession with his X’ses [1] after all he is the first famous individual spokesperson and famous individual investor (right after darpa) in full merging of man and machines …
On the lite note … TX or XT should be the label? or Twitter will completely fall off? TwiX yeah!, also X could be explained as minimalistic representation of the head and the wing of the Blue Birdy now with open legs
On other side its enough to be added on the wide bar some eye and on the narrow one some wing trail, yet even like that it would be wrong rebranding for the community and its history … experiment tho that can prove beneficial for his own pr …
Musk’s business savvy made him one of the richest people in the world, so it’s hard to dismiss him as a fool — even though some of his actions might indicate otherwise.
Can’t argue with that, but over the last 8-10 years, if we Americans should have learned anything, it’s that “business savvy” doesn’t necessarily equate directly to intellect, morality, or even sanity. After one has become “one of the richest people in the world,” there appears to be a tendency for the quieter savvy giving way to perceivably less stable eccentricities. It seems more dangerous than ever to assume “successful” = “responsible”.
Any billionaire is only so because of their stock assets. Not actual cash in hand. The way Musk bought Twitter sounds like he should be doing better by it. There are other backers involved. And a bank loan. Unless he hates them too, LOL!
I fail to perceive any rationale behind this rebranding effort. Currently, we find ourselves in negotiations with an individual exhibiting irrational behavior.
Are you negotiating with Musk?
I negotiated with Twitter a long time ago. As in deciding very early on that it is not something I need to be doing with my life.
Is it irrational when everything you do focuses people’s energy and angst on the business you are trying to promote in some fashion?
I just read he is getting rid of the Block. Yeah. That makes me want to sign up. (NOT.)
The logo is a visual attribute of the brand. It should symbolize the value of the brand or a product feature. What is the main meaning of the new logo on Twitter? X symbolism is very controversial. I think Ilon Mask is playing in occultism.
I doubt that’s the case. I suspect he simply thinks it’s cool and is a good name for what he intends to do with the company. Remember that he also owns SpaceX and was pushing to name PayPal X when he was involved there.
He seems to be an excellent example of someone who always believes that he knows more than the experts. X is a terrible name for a social media company. It’s quite easy to come up with a dozen reasons why, but egotists and narcissists, such as Musk, think they know better.
Why don’t you admit that he can be fascinated by the occult, like Hitler or Stalin for example? His Halloween costume was with Baphomet symbols and an inverted cross last year. He used the Twitter avatar with this Halloween costume for several months.
