Twitter’s co-founder ex-CEO Jack Dorsey touted Elon Musk’s move to take the social media firm private – arguing his billionaire buddy will provide much needed “cover” for the company as it pursues a necessary overhaul.
Dorsey concurred with a take from tech investor Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, who confirmed his firm was contributing $400 million toward Musk’s $44 billion buyout of Twitter.
“While Twitter has great promise as a public square, it suffers from a myriad of difficult issues ranging from bots to abuse to censorship,” Horowitz tweeted. “Being a public company solely reliant on an advertising business model exacerbates all of these.”
“This is true. It needs cover for a while,” Dorsey responded.
Musk maintained throughout his negotiations with Twitter’s board that the company needed to go private to reach its full potential. The billionaire said he would “endeavor to keep as many shareholders in privatized Twitter as allowed by law.”
Dorsey, who stepped down from Twitter’s CEO and board of directors but maintained a sizable stake in the firm, could remain in the mix following Musk’s takeover.
this is true. it needs cover for a while.
— jack⚡️ (@jack) May 5, 2022
In the same SEC filing detailing the private partners that contributed more than $7 billion in funding, Musk’s team noted that it would continue discussions with Dorsey about contributing his shares toward the bid.
“We invested, because we believe [Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Dorsey’s] vision to connect the world and we believe in Elon’s brilliance to finally make it what it was meant to be,” Horowitz added.
Some have even floated the possibility that Dorsey could return to the company’s management in some capacity once the deal closes – though neither he nor Musk has indicated that will happen so far.
Dorsey has been effusive in his praise for Musk since he began his takeover effort – declaring last month that “Elon is the singular solution I trust” to lead a course correction at Twitter.
Musk has rankled Twitter insiders with his plan to cut costs and dial back the company’s content moderation policies to re-emphasize free speech. He is also planning to eliminate the platform’s plague of automated spam bots and find new ways to monetize tweets.
Musk is reportedly set to serve as Twitter’s interim CEO for a few months after the deal closes until a permanent replacement is identified.
