According to a series of secret text exchanges, Jack Dorsey advocated for Elon Musk’s appointment to Twitter’s board a year prior to the Tesla CEO’s $44 billion bid. The discussion comes amid an ongoing legal struggle between Twitter and Musk, who agreed to buy the social media network in April before pulling out in July. According to court documents acquired by Insider, Dorsey initially contacted Tesla founder Elon Musk on March 26.
Dorsey reportedly texted Musk about Twitter, saying, “A new platform is required.” It can’t be a corporation. That’s why I walked away.”
Based on the chat log, Musk swiftly answered, “What should it look like?” The ex-Twitter CEO said that the network should become an “open-sourced protocol” that resembles Signal. Dorsey also stated that the platform “can’t have an advertising model,” which is now the primary revenue generator for most social media firms. “I’d want to help if I’m able,” Musk told Dorsey.
A new treasure trove of texts exchanged between Musk and Twitter executives like Agrawal and Jack Dorsey has now been leaked in the public domain. https://t.co/2pPuaI5MA8
— IBTimes 🇮🇳 (@ibtimes_india) September 30, 2022
According to the text log, Dorsey informed the SpaceX founder that he had pressed for his appointment to Twitter’s board a year before, but the company’s board replied “no.” In recent lawsuit documents, Dorsey felt the board considered Musk “as higher risk,” which he thought was “absolutely foolish and backward.” The Twitter co-founder claimed that he made the decision at the time that he “needed to work to leave, as difficult as it was for him.”
The Sun had more details regarding the leaked text messages:
When Musk and Twitter eventually agreed to add the tech mogul to the board on April 5 – a day after his stake in the company became public – the Tesla owner texted Dorsey to set a time to “speak confidentially”. A few hours later, the two texted, referencing the call. Dorsey told Musk that he “couldn’t be happier you’re doing this. “I’ve wanted it for a long time,” Dorsey added. “Got very emotional when I learned it was finally possible.”
When asked by Musk to advise him if ever he was doing or not doing “something dumb,” Dorsey reportedly replied: “I trust you but def will do”. In April, Musk and Twitter agreed to a deal for the tech mogul to buy the social media platform for a staggering $44 billion. However, the Tesla CEO has since pulled out of the agreement, claiming Twitter misled him and the public about the platform’s problem with fake and “spam” accounts – promoting the company to file a lawsuit against Musk.
Twitter’s lawyers had sought that the trial begins as soon as September to prevent Musk from further degrading the company. Musk negotiated a February 2023 start date with the court, alleging that a “warp speed” trial is a ploy to discredit his case that the platform is clogged with spambots. The trial is scheduled to begin on October 17. Musk was scheduled to give a two to three-hour deposition this week, but it was postponed until next month, according to Reuters.
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Leaked texts between Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey 🔥
They discuss the future of Web3 social media, which they say needs to be:
💻 Decentralized
⛓ Built on blockchain
💸 Have payments integratedThey are LITERALLY talking about what @desoprotocol / $DESO is building.
Take note pic.twitter.com/7oLXJluYPr
— Mr.Whale (@itsmrwhale) October 1, 2022
If Musk does end up owning Twitter, the first thing he’s going to have to do is clean out the swamp within Twitter’s headquarters.