Who owns the Vijay Chowk in Delhi
“The History of the world is but the biography of great men” – Thomas Carlyle
Tech visionary Elon Musk may or may not be a great man, but the answer to the rhetorical question in the subject line – who owns the vijay chowk? – a public square synonymous with the Indian Republic, is at the heart of the paradox inherent in Elon Musk’s winning statement in April 2022, when Twitter board had accepted his buyout offer of $44 Bn.
With quintessential flamboyance, the charismatic founder of futuristic companies Tesla & SpaceX, reportedly said “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”
To make sense of the grand statement, let us recap the events as they have unfolded since April 2022.
After making an offer, Musk tried to back off from the deal claiming he was misled about the proportion of bots (fake accounts) on twitter. This led to pressure from the Twitter board to honor the deal and ended up in a lawsuit in July. As the trial was likely, which might have enabled termination clause payout of $1 Bn, Mr Musk literally carried a ‘kitchen sink’ to the Twitter headquarters on 27th October to sink-in the fact that he had finally arrived. Within hours he fired the existing top leadership. Mr Musk further suggested that he would be charging a $8 monthly fee for verified ‘blue tick’ accounts which led to an intense online debate.
On the morning of 4 Nov, nearly half of the ~7500 global Twitter workforce woke up with the news of their employment being terminated. The 200+ member Twitter India team has been majorly downsized.
From a business standpoint, does acquiring Twitter translate into a direct benefit for an existing set of companies such as Tesla? Most likely not.
From a corporate finance point of view, Musk becomes answerable to no one for Twitter. On the contrary Musk is raising funds for the deal by pledging the stocks of his other companies.
From a brand perspective, Musk, unlike other billionaires, has brilliantly used Twitter to build his futuristic personal brand. He is unabashed, minces no words, in articulating his thoughts.
Twitter, on the other hand, unlike its giant social media counterparts – Facebook or Instagram, has not been able to crack the advertisement model to post robust revenue growth since going public in 2013. Characteristically, it’s a place where one argues, ridicules, protests, trolls, or campaigns. Simply put, it’s hard to monetize. Though, it possesses a disproportionate influence to globally shape instant public opinion.
It’s likely that Mr Musk, who previously has been a critic of Twitter’s advertising and content moderation policies, has some aces up his sleeve to unlock its hidden value. It appears he wishes for a less-moderated freewheeling Twitter. But if the platform becomes unhinged on speech, it’s likely to drive away advertisers.
That’s exactly what transpired last week as more companies decided to pause their ad spending on Twitter. Companies are super-conscious about their brand image and hence do not want to feature alongside objectionable content. Mr Musk’s tweet on the issue seemed more political than reassurance – Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists. Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.
If the buy-out doesn’t seem to make commercial sense, even after six months when it was made, it leads to the possibility that the richest man on the planet genuinely believes that he is shaping humanity through his hobby endeavors. Nothing wrong with that, may he succeed.
But if Twitter indeed is a digital town-square shaping humanity, then why should it be privately owned by an individual?
A billionaire, however wise, is a human at last. The arch of humanity has gravitated from an unquestionable monarchical order to a messier democratic one, to preempt fallouts from the human frailties of great men.
Democracies are strengthened not by monopolizing control on the avenues of public opinion, but by deepening and diversifying the collective-trust embedded in, and propagated through them.
More often than not, that involves sacrificing profits for patience or efficiency for empathy. Free speech is not a product or a service, waiting to be commoditized. It’s an elusive ethic, beset with the seeds of its own destruction. Unfettered free speech embodies in itself the speech which may end up gobbling all that is cherished by humanity.
In other words Vijay Chowk belongs to all the people who inhabit it and sustain it as a public square, rather than a gated garden for a select elite.
Until next time, please read our abundantly ‘free’ & insightful ‘speech’ on startups and beyond, at our website www.ecosystemventures.in
Ecosystem Ventures This Week
Key Highlights – Events
We are delighted to share that Mr. Abhishek Sanghvi (Partner, Ecosystem Ventures) has been invited as Chief Guest for the Induction Ceremony “Aarohan-2022” of MBA Batch 2022-24 at Acropolis Faculty of Management and Research (AFMR), Indore.
Startup Funding Summary
Amagi, Bangalore-based global media SaaS technology provider, has raised $100 Mn in a funding from General Atlantic – Read More
Hygenco, Gurugram-based green hydrogen company, has raised $25 Mn in a funding from SBICAP Ventures – Read More.
The Sleep Company, Mumbai-based furniture & home decor brand, has raised $21 Mn in a funding from Premji Invest, Alteria Capital and Fireside Ventures – Read More
CashKaro, Gurugram-based cashback and coupons site, has raised $16 Mn in Series C funding from Affle Global – Read More
SolarSquare, Mumbai-based solar startup, has raised $12 Mn in Series A funding from Elevation Capital, Lowercarbon, Good Capital, Rainmatter and Other HNIs – Read More
M&A Snippets
Mumbai-based specialty chemical products and services company Dorf Ketal has acquired Switzerland-based Clariant’s North American (NORAM) Land Oil business for $15 Mn – Read More
Leave a Comment