BREAKING TWITTER

Delving into the takeover of Twitter (now X) by Elon Musk uncovers rampant bad judgment and ego-driven hypocrisy.

Bestselling author Mezrich has written a string of nonfiction books and novels, and sometimes it isn’t easy to know which category this one falls into. This is partly because the story and its central character are both so strange, but also because the author plays fast and loose with the narrative. “Some dialogue has been reimagined,” he acknowledges, “and the dates of some of the events have been adjusted or compressed. Also, at some points in the story I employ elements of satire.” Mezrich also occasionally presumes to know what Musk was thinking, even though Musk refused to participate. The book should be read with a grain of salt, but the author has plenty of intriguing material to work with, and he turns up a few useful insights. Mezrich admits that Twitter was already somewhat broken before Musk took over and sought to merge his philosophical and political views with the management of a social media company. It had a bloated payroll and confusion about its role in the marketplace; begun as a digital venue for the free exchange of ideas, Twitter increasingly censored or banned contributors. Musk apparently wanted it to be a completely open platform but soon ran into numerous practical realities. At the management level, he did not so much trim fat as run a chainsaw through the company. Twitter’s financial indicators spiraled downward, and by the time Musk stepped down as CEO, “the blowback had tarnished his reputation, perhaps irrevocably.” As for Twitter, now re-branded as X, the real question, which Mezrich avoids, might be not whether it can survive, but whether it deserves to.

Significantly flawed, but with some important things to say about business in the social media age.