Musk ‘open to’ Substack buy
The tech billionaire says he is open to connecting digital short posts platform Twitter with the newsletter start-up and challenge traditional media.
Elon Musk says he is open to Twitter buying Substack, the newsletter start-up, in an attempt to diversify his social network beyond short posts and to challenge the established media industry.
The billionaire, who bought Twitter in a $US44bn deal two months ago, is trying to draw a line under persisting controversies and questions surrounding its future that have blighted the start of its time under his watch.
I’m open to the idea
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2022
When a user on the platform said it would make sense for Twitter to take over Substack and “tightly connect” the two services, enabling them to compete with traditional media outlets, Musk replied: “I’m open to the idea.”
Substack sought to pour cold water on the prospect. “It’s not something we’re thinking about at the moment,” a spokeswoman said. “We’re 100 per cent focused on building Substack.”
Some of Musk’s favoured journalists send newsletters via Substack, an email publishing business that enables writers to charge people to read their work.
Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi, two of the people Mr Musk allowed to view Twitter’s historic internal documents, are among its prominent figures.
Substack’s focus on premium subscriptions also would align with Musk’s efforts to lessen Twitter’s reliance on advertising.
A string of prominent brands paused spending on Twitter after his acquisition, hitting its revenue.
Twitter confirmed two weeks ago that it was closing Revue, its own newsletter platform, which it bought for an undisclosed sum in January last year.
The founders of Substack have criticised traditional social media platforms, such as Twitter, for the way they are constructed around advertising and algorithms.
“The ad-peddling model that dominates the internet and hijacks our minds is costing us too much by being ‘free’,” Chris Best, Substack’s chief executive, wrote last year.
It comes as Tesla, Musk’s electric carmaker business, is set to become one of S&P 500’s worst performers in 2022 with its share price down nearly 68 per cent so far this year amid a technology rout, his selldowns to fund Twitter and fears of a recession.
– The Times
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