Susan Walsh/AP
- Elon Musk will likely improve Twitter, according to entrepreneur and finance expert Eric Schiffer.
- Musk always understood the power of Twitter for its ability to influence news and society, he said.
- He added Musk will find ways to make Twitter “more inspiring and more exciting” to participate in.
Elon Musk is a forward-thinking entrepreneur, according to finance expert Eric Schiffer.
Schiffer, who heads The Patriarch Organization, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, spoke to Insider about the effect he thinks Musk will have on Twitter, following his recent acquisition of the platform.
At the beginning of April, Musk bought a 10% stake in Twitter for almost $3 billion, automatically becoming its biggest shareholder. Just weeks later, he offered to buy the company outright for $44 billion. The offer was accepted by Twitter’s board, causing distress and disappointment among some of its employees.
Recently, one Twitter employee even changed their Twitter profile name to “elon musk is a racist demagogue with a god complex,” following the takeover, Insider’s Kali Hays reported.
Many have been vocal about Musk’s buyout of Twitter, and while some leading figures approve of the deal, others haven’t.
Schiffer among others, including Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, expressed positivity over Musk’s Twitter deal.
Haugen, for instance, recently told Fox Business she is “cautiously optimistic” about Musk’s takeover of Twitter. She also contrasted Musk to her former boss, Mark Zuckerberg, saying she thinks Musk can receive feedback better and make meaningful changes.
Her views mirror that of Schiffer who says he thinks Musk will improve Twitter in the long term while also highlighting his leadership qualities.
“I think [Musk] will be able to thread the needle to be able to benefit society with greater free speech without it going too far that it could be disruptive to society,” Schiffer said.
According to Schiffer, Twitter has in many ways, “gone over the line” in regulating speech. In some cases, he noted, it can be a good thing to filter out voices that have not been helpful to society, but the vast majority of Twitter users are on the platform because they want to speak without prevarication.
“I think what he’ll try to do is find an even better balance, in accordance with laws, that doesn’t have a brutal backlash from a user utilization standpoint, but also empowers free speech,” Schiffer said of Musk.
Musk has previously spoken about wanting to bring greater free speech to Twitter in an effort to create a platform that is “maximally trusted and broadly inclusive.”
Schiffer further added that Musk understands what the current standard is in terms of engaging people on social-media platforms. “I would imagine he would enable opportunities for Twitter to have more entertainment components,” he said.
He added: “[Musk] will want to look for ways to make things more inspiring and more exciting to participate in,” and that could include changes to Twitter’s algorithm and the way users interact with each other on the platform.
Musk is one of the few entrepreneurs that has always understood the power of social media, and particularly the power of Twitter, Schiffer said. This is true “from a revenue perspective but also its ability to influence news, culture, society and certainly commerce,” Schiffer added.
“It’s first nature for Musk to want to purchase Twitter because it has great asset potential, he can leverage it in a way that will benefit his businesses and more importantly, has a greater voice in the media and in culture,” Schiffer said.
It’s more than about just being a player but also an orchestrator, he added, alluding to Musk’s Twitter purchase.
Schiffer’s views towards the purchase and the benefits that it may bring contrast with the views of Bill Gates, who recently said Musk could make the platform worse.
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