Billionaire Elon Musk marked his takeover of Twitter with a bizarre video carrying a porcelain sink into the company's headquarters.
Musk also changed his Twitter bio to read "Chief Twit," a sign that he is moving ahead as the company's official owner though there is as of yet no official word that his acquisition of the social media platform is complete.
Twitter confirmed that the video was real. It shows Musk strolling into the building and is accompanied by the following caption:
"Entering Twitter HQ — let that sink in!"
You can see Musk's video below.
\u201cEntering Twitter HQ \u2013 let that sink in!\u201d— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1666809958
Musk's gloating might suggest that he feels vindicated following his many complaints about Twitter's moderation rules and his argument the social media company needs to go private if it wants to become a platform for free speech.
The actual story is a little more complicated.
Musk has come under heavy criticism in recent months after he announced he was abandoning his deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion.
Musk accused Twitter of misrepresenting user data, saying the company failed to respond to multiple requests for information on fake or spam accounts. He added he was terminating his bid due to a “material breach of multiple provisions” of the agreement.
Twitter sued Musk in an effort to get a court to enforce the deal, and after much back-and-forth, Musk agreed to buy the company for the initially agreed upon price.
His videotaped stunt was not well received.
\u201cThe joyful, giddy, name calling, suck it losers, vibe on this thread is exactly why people were worried. It\u2019s distressing how many people think \u201csaying whatever I want\u201d no matter how wrong, hateful or destructive is free speech. It\u2019s not. It never was.\u201d— PoliticsGirl (@PoliticsGirl) 1666880321
\u201cI love that no amount of money will ever give this man the one thing he wants - being funny\u201d— Mohanad Elshieky (@Mohanad Elshieky) 1666846398
\u201cThe courts are forcing you to go through with this deal after you tried finagle out of it.\u201d— Millard Fillmore's porcelain zither (@Millard Fillmore's porcelain zither) 1666844468
\u201c"CITIZEN KANE" ends with the richest dude dying alone in a mansion full of cool stuff that doesn't make him happy because he misses a toy he had as a poor kid and it's supposed to be the most pathetic thing ever but... man, even at the end Kane is SO MUCH less sad than this guy\u201d— Like Kurosawa, I Make Mad (@Like Kurosawa, I Make Mad) 1666849866
\u201cProof that money can\u2019t buy you the ability to be funny\u201d— Cloagerson (@Cloagerson) 1666834190
\u201cBloody hell. \n\nHe thinks he's funny.\u201d— Lady \ud83d\udc1d Bee \ud83d\udc1d Middlemast-Neal #EnoughIsEnough (@Lady \ud83d\udc1d Bee \ud83d\udc1d Middlemast-Neal #EnoughIsEnough) 1666855811
\u201cElon Musk tries a Richard Branson PR move and looks like an awkward looter.\u201d— Robert Young Pelton (@Robert Young Pelton) 1666845817
\u201cOnce again @elonmusk proves that he is the least funny human being on the planet.\u201d— Milo (@Milo) 1666827539
\u201cThis is fundamentally cruel. Whatever the masters of the universe are doing with this website, lots and lots of people \u2014 not fancy people, just people with kids and houses and vacation plans and who make companies run and rich men richer \u2014 will lose their livelihoods.\u201d— Juliette Kayyem (@Juliette Kayyem) 1666828547
The deadline for Musk's deal to take Twitter private is tomorrow and was ordered by the Delaware Chancery Court earlier this month.
The deal is expected to close with no other snags and would end a legal battle that has dragged on since the summer, when Musk initially announced he would back out of the deal following months of enthusiasm amid complaints about Twitter's content moderation policies.
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