On Twitter, the billionaire chief of Tesla and SpaceX spoke out as a wave of employees from inside Twitter shared their own personal support under the hashtag #WeBackJack. It comes after Bloomberg last week revealed details of an ousting threat sparked by Elliott Management Corporation.
“Just want [to] say that I support @Jack as Twitter CEO. He has a good heart,” Musk wrote online yesterday, a post that has since attracted more than 50,000 likes.
It’s not the first time the billionaire technologist has spoken out about Twitter. In January, Musk directly gave Dorsey his own opinion on how to improve the website.
At the time, Musk said that it would be helpful to be able to differentiate between real users, bots and people who are attempting to manipulate the site. Twitter, like all mainstream social networks, has been forced in recent years to battle with fake accounts, troll armies and misinformation.
Last weekend, Bloomberg reported Elliott Management Corp, founded by Republican mega-donor Paul Singer, had built up a “sizable stake” in Twitter and could seek to oust Dorsey.
According to Bloomberg, the fund cited the need for a full-time CEO, raising concerns Dorsey was splitting time with his digital payments firm Square. While the financial details are unknown, the publication reported Elliott had taken a stake of more than $1 billion in Twitter.
Elliott Management has been contacted for comment. As of December 2019, Elliott was managing approximately $40.2 billion in assets, according to its website. Twitter declined to comment.
In the wake of the news, Musk was not alone in his support for Dorsey. As reported by Buzzfeed, a slew of employees used their own accounts to pledge loyalty to the 43-year-old CEO.
“Never, ever underestimate how much people at a company show up for a strong leader,” wrote Lara Cohen, global partnership solutions lead for the website.
Cohen added: “@jack has shown us who we are, and why the platform matters. That’s more than f’ing face filters—that’s actually serving and enabling public conversation.”
God-is Rivera, Twitter’s global director of culture and community, also tweeted: “I’m so grateful to work for a company with leadership who puts people and health as a top priority…. this direction comes from the top down. @Jack beyond grateful to how you put your people + health first.”
Dorsey has not directly referenced the dealings. In his latest tweets, the CEO confirmed Twitter and Square were urging employees to work from home due to the spread of COVID-19.
Musk’s own use of Twitter has landed him in trouble in the past. He was reprimanded by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after using it to discuss Tesla’s financial future.
His personal Twitter account has previously been targeted by cryptocurrency scam campaigns. Last December, he won a defamation case after calling a British caver “pedo guy” on Twitter.
In the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Twitter has frequently been criticized by some users for censorship practices such as “shadowbanning”—which it denies is taking place.
President Donald Trump, who famously uses Twitter to push his opinion and policy to more than 70 million followers, previously accused the site of limiting the reach of posts by U.S. Republicans. Twitter is likely to, again, play a major role during the upcoming presidential election cycle in 2020.
