The author of a new book about Elon Musk said that his purchase of the social media platform Twitter—now known as X—“broke” the billionaire.
Ben Mezrich appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History, published Tuesday by Grand Central. A critic for Kirkus calls the book “significantly flawed, but with some important things to say about business in the social media age.”
Mezrich said that after Musk bought X, “he came in and trashed the place,” causing a downward spiral.
“The Elon before Twitter and the Elon after Twitter are two different Elons,” Mezrich continued. “And Elon didn’t just break Twitter, Twitter broke Elon Musk.…Not only did he destroy this sort of global town hall, but he destroyed himself in the process.”
Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO, bought the platform in 2022 and made a series of changes that have been heavily criticized, such as firing much of the company’s workforce, reinstating accounts that had previously been banned, and relaxing its content moderation policies.
Mezrich said he thinks Musk “cares a lot” about the damage to his reputation.
“He got to a point where he locked himself in his office, was so upset that the Twitter employees were considering calling in a wellness check by the San Francisco police because they thought he was going to self-harm,” Mezrich said. “I think he truly cares about his reputation, and he was shocked…[comedian Dave] Chappelle brought him on stage with him, and he got booed, and this had never happened to Elon before.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
