Freeing the Bird

Elon Musk said he purchased Twitter to champion free speech, but this exclusive excerpt says it was more about advancing a personal, right-leaning agenda

- by JACOB SILVERMAN

DIGITAL REVAMP The Twitter sign is dismantled at the social media platform's San Francisco headquarters in July 2023, the day after Musk rebranded it as X.

In 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter, now known as X, stating it was to promote a “digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.” Upon his purchase, Musk loosened content moderation policies and reinstated many previously banned accounts, including that of President Donald Trump. In this excerpt from his new book, GILDED RAGE: ELON MUSK AND THE RADICALIZATION OF SILICON VALLEY, bestselling author Jacob Silverman dives into Musk’s purchase of the social media platform for $44 billion and the changes that he made. Silverman reveals how the entrepreneur showed signs of right-leaning thinking even before he became Trump’s right-hand man and the face of DOGE. He fits Musk’s role into a greater narrative of Silicon Valley, showing the web of tech moguls that are turning this capital of innovation into a political machine. This exclusive excerpt from Silverman’s book investigates the extent of Musk’s changes to X and how they fit into his bigger plans for political radicalization in Silicon Valley.

ELON MUSK’S DECISION TO BUY Twitter seemed impulsive and almost trollish, a rich guy buying another toy for his collection just to show he could. But he was acting in a familiar tradition—a multibillionaire making an aggressive play for an influential but slightly tarnished media asset that he happened to be personally obsessed with. Like Robert Maxwell’s pursuit of the New York Daily News or Rupert Murdoch overpaying to pry