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World

Elon Musk denies claim he spoke to Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine

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CNN
 — 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has denied a claim that he spoke directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks about the war in Ukraine and a proposed “peace plan” to end the conflict.

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, American political scientist Ian Bremmer, president of political consulting firm Eurasia Group, claimed Musk told him directly about his conversation with Putin last month.

In a tweet Tuesday, however, Musk said he hadn’t spoken with Putin in over a year.

“I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago,” Musk tweeted. “The subject matter was space.”

Bremmer initially declined to comment further on his conversation with Musk – but later reiterated his claim on Twitter.

“Elon Musk told me he had spoken with Putin and the Kremlin directly about Ukraine. He also told me what the Kremlin’s red lines were,” Bremmer wrote.

Musk tweeted a succinct response: “Nobody should trust Bremmer.”

Eurasia Group is a political risk research and consulting firm that reports on emerging and developed economies. Bremmer, who is often cited by mainstream media, has also been involved with international organizations including the World Economic Forum.

The exchange comes after Musk tweeted a “Ukraine-Russia peace plan” last week that reflected demands Kremlin officials have made repeatedly in recent months, including that Kyiv commit to military neutrality, acknowledge that Crimea is formally part of Russia, and ensure continued water supply to the peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

“Ukraine-Russia Peace: Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people. Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake). Water supply to Crimea assured. Ukraine remains neutral,” Musk tweeted.

“This is highly likely to be the outcome in the end – just a question of how many die before then,” he added. “Also worth noting that a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome from this conflict is nuclear war.”

Musk’s tweet was welcomed by the Kremlin – but sparked outrage among Ukrainian government officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, who suggested in a tweet that Musk was expressing support for Russia with his proposal.

“F— off is my very diplomatic reply to you,” Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk wrote in response to Musk’s Twitter thread.

A lawyer for Musk did not immediately return CNN’s requests for comment.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday night, Bremmer strongly defended his claim, saying: “I have been writing my weekly newsletter on geopolitics for 24 [years]. I write honestly without fear or favor and this week’s update was no different.

“I’ve long admired Musk as a unique and world-changing entrepreneur, which I’ve said publicly. He’s not a geopolitics expert.”

Multiple sources told CNN separately that in recent weeks, Musk had floated a similar “peace plan” proposal in conversations with attendees at think tanks and conferences, and hinted at having contact with Kremlin officials.

In a conversation at “The Weekend” festival in Aspen, Colorado, last month, Musk told attendees, “I really would encourage Ukraine – because Ukraine’s had some victories recently – really encourage them to seek peace. This is the time to do it. They don’t want to do it, that’s for sure. But this is the time to do it. Cause you know everyone wants to seek peace when they’re losing but they don’t want to seek peace when they’re winning. For now.”

According to one attendee, Musk added that “in my view the nature of that peace would be: recognizing Crimea as Russia, allowing Luhansk and Donetsk to be independent, quasi-independent republics, and don’t block the water to Crimea like they did last time. Russia would accept those terms.”

Based on the ideas Musk put forward, according to another source who heard them, it seemed “clear” he had been “in communication with the Kremlin.” A third source echoed that, telling CNN Musk had suggested in late September that his proposals for a peace deal were endorsed by the Kremlin.

Musk made similar suggestions for a resolution to tensions between China and Taiwan, telling the Financial Times that some control over the self-governing island could be handed to Beijing in a bid for peace.

“My recommendation…would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy,” Musk told the Financial Times in an interview published last week. “And it’s possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an arrangement that’s more lenient than Hong Kong.”

In a note to Eurasia Group subscribers on Monday, Bremmer expanded upon his conversation with Musk, which he said took place about two weeks ago.

“I spoke with Elon two weeks ago, and he told me Putin (in a direct conversation with him) was “prepared to negotiate” (much as I had heard from Shanghai Cooperation Organization members the week before) and had outlined the minimum the Russian President would require to end the war,” Bremmer wrote.

“There were three components: (1) Crimea remains Russian, (2) Ukraine accepts a formal status of neutrality, and (3) recognition of Russia’s annexations of Luhansk and Donetsk, Kherson control for the water supply to Crimea, and Zaporizhzhia for the land bridge.”

Bremmer wrote that Musk told him Putin said he would accomplish those goals “no matter what,” and was prepared to retaliate with a nuclear strike should Zelensky try to take back Crimea by force.

“Elon said everything needed to be done to avoid that outcome,” Bremmer wrote.

Musk has been providing Starlink systems to Ukraine since early on in the war, allowing Kyiv to maintain internet and communications access in areas cut off by Russian attacks on infrastructure. But according to Bremmer, Musk was spooked in recent weeks by a Ukrainian request to activate Starlink systems in Crimea – suggesting a potential ground operation – and refused the request.

“Musk also appeared concerned about more direct threats from Putin,” Bremmer wrote. “While he didn’t surface anything explicit with me, he did talk about Russian cyber capabilities and Russia’s potential to disrupt his satellites.”

Asked on Tuesday about the reported Musk-Putin discussion, US National Security Council official John Kirby told reporters that Musk does not speak on behalf of the Biden administration in any conversations he may have with the Russian President.

“I’ll let Mr. Musk speak for his conversations. Obviously, he’s not representing the United States government in this conversation. So I think I’ll let him characterize this. And we’ll avoid commenting on the particulars,” Kirby said.

Kirby reiterated that Russia started its war in Ukraine “in an unprovoked and illegal way” and “can end it today simply by taking their troops out.”

Absent that, Kirby said the United States plans to continue to support Ukraine with capabilities and tools to succeed on the battlefield.

Zelensky, Kirby added, “will get to determine for himself when is the right time to negotiate, and Mr. Zelensky will get to determine for himself and for his country what terms he’s willing to consider, what success looks like.”

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the name of the festival at which Elon Musk told attendees Ukraine should seek peace. It took place at “The Weekend” festival.

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World

Four takeaways from Ohio’s US Senate debate

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CNN
 — 

The debate between Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance in Ohio’s closer-than-expected Senate contest began with a testy exchange on the economy and quickly devolved from there into a contentious – and at times personal – clash.

This race was not a contest Republicans believed would require as much money and attention as it has, given the Republican tilt of the state, which former President Donald Trump comfortably carried twice. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the seat “Lean Republican,” while top-tier Senate campaigns in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Nevada are all still seen as more competitive. Still, Ryan’s bid to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman has proven a strong match for an underfunded GOP nominee that Trump pulled through the primary.

Monday night’s acrimony highlighted the urgency of the moment for both candidates.

For Ryan, millions in ads will be spent against the congressman in the coming weeks, testing the so far relatively resilient Democratic campaign in a state that’s trending red. For Vance, the Republican has found his footing after a tough summer, leaning on the natural political lean of the state by accusing his Democratic opponent of faking his moderate bona fides.

In a debate where neither candidate was afraid to directly go after his opponent – Ryan called Vance an “ass kisser,” while Vance compared Ryan to a toddler – it was clear both candidates felt they had ground to make up in the race with less than four weeks to go until Election Day.

Here are four takeaways from Ohio’s first Senate debate:

Abortion has come to shape political campaigns across the country in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning national abortion protections, and the Ohio Senate contest has been no different.

Ryan sought to cast himself as the moderate on the issue in Monday’s debate, saying he backed “going back to Roe v. Wade” and arguing for “some moderation on this issue.” He then turned the issue on Republicans, calling efforts to pass stricter abortion laws “the largest government overreach in the history of our lifetime.”

Vance, who said he was “pro-life” but “always believed in reasonable exceptions,” responded by delivering one of his most scathing lines of the night, seemingly blaming Ryan for the rape of the 10-year-old Ohio girl who sought an abortion in neighboring Indiana by noting she was allegedly raped by an undocumented immigrant and that Ryan had voted against border wall funding.

“If you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place,” Vance said, turning to Ryan. “Do your job on border security, don’t lecture me about opinions I don’t actually have.”

Later in the debate, Ryan said he supported walls along the US-Mexico border where it made sense but not one wall from “sea to shining sea.”

As he has done on the campaign trail and in paid ads, Ryan sought throughout the debate to tout his independent bona fides, noting how he broke from his own party and at times backed Trump on trade.

“I think everybody is to blame,” Ryan said when asked if President Joe Biden is to blame for rising inflation. “Kamala Harris is absolutely wrong on that,” he added when asked if the vice president was correct when she said the border was secure.

Ryan then used this argument to hammer his opponent, arguing that he “can’t stand up to anyone” because even after Trump said at a recent campaign rally that Vance was “kissing my ass” to get him to campaign for him, the Republican nominee didn’t stand up to the former President after he took his “dignity from him.”

“He was called an ass kisser by the former President,” Ryan said, adding later, “Ohio needs an ass kicker, not an ass kisser.”

Vance went with a timely response. After noting Halloween is close, he added, “Tim Ryan has put on a costume where he pretends to be reasonable moderate.”

And the Republican did little to distance himself from Trump, his party’s standard bearer. When asked if Trump had done anything that concerns him, Vance urged letting “the criminal investigation play out” on the mishandling of classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago and criticized the focus on past scandals around the former President.

Vance closed the debate by contrasting his personal choice two decades ago – to enlist in the Marines – with Ryan’s decision to successfully run for Congress.

To Vance, the race between him and Ryan is a referendum on “failed leadership” in Washington, positioning that allows the Republican to carry himself as the political outsider and Ryan as the career politician.

“He has been failing at his basic job for 20 years,” Vance said of Ryan, who was first elected to Congress in 2002. “Talks a big game but the record of accomplishment just isn’t there.”

Although Ryan pushed back against this narrative – “I’m not going to apologize for spending 20 years slogging away to try to help one of the hardest economically hit regions of Ohio,” the Democrat said – Vance’s strategy was clear.

“Ohioans deserve certain things from their federal leadership,” Vance said, capturing his entire electoral argument. “They deserve to go to the grocery store and be able to afford food without it breaking the bank. They deserve streets you can walk down safely. They deserve a country that has a border.”

Some of the biggest differences of the night came on foreign policy.

When asked how the United States should respond to the potential Russian use of nuclear weapons, Ryan said it would call for an “aggressive response” but added, “I don’t think we are at that point where (Russian President) Vladimir Putin will.”

Ryan than tried to turn the issue on Vance, noting that the Republican once said he doesn’t “really care what happens to Ukraine.”

“J.D. Vance would let Putin roll right through Ukraine,” Ryan said, noting the large Ukrainian population in Ohio. “J.D. Vance is weak on this.”

Vance, however, did not shy away from those comments, saying, “The answer is that no one knows how we would respond,” and mocking Ryan for saying the use of nuclear weapons would call for an “aggressive response.”

“What exactly does that mean? Does that mean we should be in a nuclear shooting war?” Vance said, accusing Ryan of being part of the “bipartisan foreign policy establishment.”

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Business

The Twitter-Musk trial is now on pause

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New York
CNN Business
 — 

The judge overseeing the acquisition dispute between Elon Musk and Twitter on Thursday ruled to pause the legal proceedings until Oct. 28 following a request from the Tesla CEO, meaning the trial that was set to begin Oct. 17 will not go ahead as planned.

Twitter had opposed Musk’s motion to stay the proceedings and raised concerns that he might not follow through on his word to quickly close the deal.

“If the transaction does not close by 5 p.m. on October 28, 2022, the parties are instructed to contact me by email that evening to obtain November 2022 trial dates,” the judge, Delaware Chancery Court chancellor Kathaleen St. Judge McCormick, said in the order.

Lawyers for Elon Musk on Thursday filed a motion to stay the legal proceedings in its dispute with Twitter and to remove from the court’s calendar the trial that had been set to begin Oct. 17, noting “changed circumstances that have effectively mooted this action,” according to a Thursday court filing.

The filing — which says the stay is “pending the closing of the transaction” — comes after Musk earlier this week proposed proceeding with the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter at the originally agreed upon terms after having spent months trying to get out of the deal.

The filing states that Musk is “willing to close the transaction at $54.20, the Debt Financing parties are working cooperatively to fund the close, and closing is expected on or around October 28.”

But the filing also alludes to resistance from Twitter to halt the legal proceedings. “Twitter will not take yes for an answer. Astonishingly, they have insisted on proceeding with this litigation,” according to the letter.

Lawyers for Twitter issued a sharp response to Musk’s filing. “The obstacle to terminating this litigation is not, as Defendants say, that Twitter is unwilling to take yes for an answer,” the letter states. “The obstacle is that Defendants still refuse to accept their contractual obligations.”

It notes that for months, Musk has been attempting to exit the deal and “now, on the eve of trial, Defendants declare they intend to close after all. ‘Trust us,’ they say, ‘we mean it this time.’”

“Until Defendants commit to close as required, Twitter is entitled to its day in Court,” Twitter’s letter states. “Defendants can and should close next week. Until they do, this action is not moot and should be brought to trial.”

The back-and-forth offers the clearest indication yet that Musk’s financing may now be the central issue in the dispute between the Tesla CEO and Twitter over halting the legal proceedings and completing the deal. Musk has previously said he would pay for the acquisition through a mix of debt commitments from financial institutions, equity financing from investors and his own assets.

But legal experts have raised concerns that debt financiers may now want to pull out of the deal in light of recent changes to the debt market and declines in value of social media companies. Twitter, according to experts, would likely want to maintain the litigation as pressure on Musk unless he agrees to close the deal with or without the debt financing.

In the Thursday filing, Musk’s legal team stated that Twitter has resisted a stay based on concerns that Musk has made his offer to close the deal contingent on the receipt of the debt financing, and that payment could fall through. “Counsel for the debt financing parties has advised that each of their clients is prepared to honor its obligations,” Musk’s filing states.

The filing asks the court to stay the proceedings and order Twitter to complete the deal.

“Proceeding toward trial is not only an enormous waste of party and judicial resources, it will undermine the ability of the parties to close the transaction,” the filing states. “Instead of allowing the parties to turn their focus to securing the Debt Financing necessary to consummate the transaction and preparing for a transition of the business, the parties will instead remain distracted by completing discovery and an unnecessary trial.”

In its response letter, Twitter’s lawyers state that Musk’s team has refused “to commit to any closing date.” It added that a representative for one of the banks set to lend to Musk testified Thursday morning that “Mr. Musk has yet to send them a borrowing notice and has not otherwise communicated to them that he intends to close the transaction, let alone on any particular timeline.”

Twitter’s lawyers added: ‘Defendants should be arranging to close on Monday, October 10.”

Earlier Thursday, lawyers for Musk and Twitter agreed to postpone the Tesla CEO’s deposition in the court fight, a source familiar with the negotiations told CNN. Musk’s deposition had been set to begin Thursday, per a notice filed earlier this week. It’s not clear whether a new date has been set for Musk’s deposition, but Twitter could end up pushing to complete it early next week if a deal is not reached.

As of Wednesday, the two sides had yet to reach a deal to close the acquisition, a separate source told CNN. Delaware Chancery Court chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the judge who is overseeing the litigation, said in a Wednesday court filing that neither side had filed to stay the proceedings and she was continuing to prepare for trial to begin on Oct. 17.

On Thursday, McCormick filed a letter to both sides laying out deadlines for responding to discovery motions, noting that the “trial is fast approaching.”

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Business

Here’s who made Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business list for 2022

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The competition to be listed among Fortune’s Most Powerful Women has gotten a little stiffer this year. In recognition of just how global business has become, Fortune decided to merge its domestic and international lists of top corporate women leaders.

Still, in some ways, this year’s top 10 list is similar to last year’s with a few exceptions.

Coming in at No. 1 for the second year running is CVS Health president and CEO Karen Lynch, who is leading the highest-ranking Fortune 500 and Global 500 company ever run by a woman. On her watch – she took the helm in February 2021 – the company’s revenue jumped 9% and its share price gains (up 42%) well outpaced performance of the S&P 500. CVS, meanwhile, continued to be a central player in the fight against Covid, and Lynch implemented a mental health program to help prevent suicide among its Aetna members.

Ranking close behind Lynch once again are Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture (No. 2); Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi (No. 3); and Mary Barra, chair and CEO, GM (No. 4).

But the No. 5 spot went to Jessica Tan, co-CEO and executive director of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd, which is the 25th largest company in the world. Fortune notes that despite China’s Covid lockdowns and “skittish consumer sentiment,” Ping An under Tan’s leadership beat profit expectations in the first half of 2022 and aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

Also new to the top 10 relative to Fortune’s domestic list last year is Emma Walmsley, CEO of global drugmaker GSK. She spun off her company’s $13 billion consumer health unit. “That leaves the now exclusively pharma-focused GSK with a pile of cash to invest in promising drug and vaccine candidates,” Fortune notes.

Two executives, meanwhile, fell out of the top 10 from last year: Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO of TIAA; and Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Alphabet. But neither fell far, ranking as No. 11 and 12, respectively.

Here are the top 10 women executives on Fortune’s 2022 Most Powerful Women list:

1. Karen Lynch, president and CEO, CVS Health

2. Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture

3. Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup

4. Mary Barra, chair and CEO, GM

5. Jessica Tan, executive director and Co-CEO, Ping An Insurance

6. Carol Tomé, CEO, UPS

7. Rosalind Brewer, CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance

8. Emma Walmsley, CEO of GSK

9. Gail Boudreaux, president and CEO, Elevance Health

10. Abigail Johnson, chair and CEO, Fidelity Investments

(For more on each of these executives, here is Fortune’s full list of the top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. Please note a subscription is required.)

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Business

Twitter stock surges on reports Elon Musk again proposes buying the company at full price

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CNN
 — 

Twitter stock was halted twice, the second time for news pending, and rose around 13% in midday trading Tuesday following reports that Elon Musk has proposed to move forward with his deal to buy the company at the originally agreed upon price of $54.20 per share.

Bloomberg and the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Musk had sent a letter to Twitter proposing to complete the deal as originally signed, citing people familiar with the negotiations.

Representatives for Musk and Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The news comes as the the two sides have been preparing to head to trial in two weeks over Musk’s attempt to pull out of the $44 billion acquisition agreement, which Twitter had sued him to complete. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal had been set to be deposed by Musk’s lawyers on Monday, and Twitter’s lawyers had planned to depose Musk starting on Thursday.

Such an agreement could bring to an end a contentious, months-long back and forth between Musk and Twitter that has caused massive uncertainty for employees, investors and users of one of the world’s most influential social media platforms.

Twitter’s board would likely agree to suspend the litigation to move forward with closing the deal, according to Josh White, assistant professor of finance at Vanderbilt University.

“The very public saga has certainly taken a toll on them and Twitter employees,” White said. “It is best for all parties to finish the deal and make a quick and seamless transition. I suspect it will close quickly.”

The saga began in April when Musk revealed he had become Twitter’s largest shareholder. Over the next several months, Musk accepted and then backed out of an offer to sit on Twitter’s board, threatened a hostile takeover of the company, signed an agreement to buy the company, started raising concerns about bots on the platform, attempted to terminate the agreement, was sued by Twitter to follow through with the deal and added claims from a Twitter whistleblower to his argument.

Musk initially moved to terminate the deal citing claims that the company has misstated the number of spam and fake bot accounts on the platform. Twitter claimed that Musk had breached the deal and was using bots as a pretext to exit a deal he’d gotten buyer’s remorse over after the broader market decline, which also hurt Tesla stock and, by extension, Musk’s personal wealth.

Still, many legal experts have said that Twitter has the stronger argument heading into court, and that Musk would a face a significant burden in trying to prove that the company had made materially misleading statements in its securities filings or in the deal contract.

The lawsuit was the final hurdle remaining in the way of the deal getting closed, after Twitter shareholders last month voted to approve the deal. The deal had originally been set to close this month.

With news that the deal could end up closing, attention may once again shift to what Musk’s control could mean for the social media platform.

Musk has previously suggested a series of potential changes to Twitter, the most significant of which could be returning former President Donald Trump to the platform and doing away with permanent account bans. Musk has also said he wants to make Twitter more open to “free speech” and could change its content moderation policies.

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US

Tesla robot slowly walks on stage at AI Day

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Washington, DC
CNN
 — 

Tesla revealed on Friday a prototype of a humanoid robot that it says could be a future product for the automaker.

The robot, dubbed Optimus by Tesla, walked stiffly on stage at Tesla’s AI Day, slowly waved at the crowed and gestured with its hands for roughly one minute. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the robot was operating without a tether for the first time. Robotics developers often use tethers to support robots because they aren’t capable enough to walk without falling and damaging themselves.

The Optimus’ abilities appear to significantly trail what robots from competitors like Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics are capable of. Boston Dynamics robots have been seen doing back flips and performing sophisticated dance routines without a tether.

“The robot can actually do a lot more than we just showed you,” Musk said at the event. “We just didn’t want it to fall on its face.”

Tesla also showed videos of its robot performing simple tasks like carrying boxes and watering plants with a watering can.

Musk claimed that if the robot was produced in mass volumes it would “probably” cost less than $20,000. Tesla maintains that Optimus’ advantage over competitors will be its ability to navigate independently using technology developed from Tesla’s driver-assistance system “Full Self Driving,” as well as cost savings from what it has learned about manufacturing from its automotive division. (Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” requires a human that is alert and attentive, ready to take over at any time, as it is not yet capable of fully driving itself.)

Tesla has a history of aggressive price targets that it doesn’t ultimately reach. The Tesla Model 3 was long promised as a $35,000 vehicle, but could only very briefly be purchased for that price, and not directly on its website. The most affordable Tesla Model 3 now costs $46,990. When Tesla revealed the Cybertruck in 2019, its pick-up truck that remains unavailable for purchase today, it was said to cost $39,990, but the price has since been removed from Tesla’s website.

Tesla AI Day is intended largely as a recruiting event to attract talented people to join the company.

Musk claimed the robot could be transformative for civilization. The robot displayed Friday, despite its limitations compared to competitors, was significantly ahead of what Tesla revealed a year ago, when a person jumped on stage in a robot suit and danced around.

“‘Last year was just a person in a robot suit,” Musk said before the robot walked on stage. “We’ve come a long way. Compared to that, it’s going to be very impressive.”

Tesla is not the first automaker to develop a humanoid robot. Along with Hyundai’s Boston Dynamics, Honda worked on robots dubbed “Asimo” for nearly 20 years. In its final form, Asimo was a child-size humanoid robot capable of untethered walking, running, climbing and descending stairs, and manipulating objects with its fingers.

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Business

Elon Musk’s texts show how his relationship with Twitter went sideways

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CNN
 — 

Days before publicly announcing his investment in Twitter, Elon Musk texted with Jack Dorsey. The former Twitter CEO suggested he no longer believed in the company he founded, according to new court filings in the legal battle between Musk and Twitter.

Musk had begun quietly building up a large stake in Twitter

(TWTR) in January. In a text on March 26, Dorsey told Musk, “a new platform is needed. It can’t be a company. This is why I left.”

Musk, an avid Twitter user who was often seen as friendly with Dorsey, responded by asking what the platform should look like. Dorsey explained his view that it should be “an open source protocol” and not rely on “an advertising model,” as Twitter currently does. Dorsey added that Twitter “should never have been a company,” saying, “that was the original sin.”

Musk expressed interest in advancing the idea. In a later text that day, he said: “I think it’s worth both trying to move Twitter in a better direction and doing something new that’s decentralized.”

The private exchanges between Dorsey and Musk are among the many text messages released in court filings this week, offering new insight into the Tesla CEO’s agreement to buy Twitter for $44 billion and his attempt later to back away from the deal. The messages also offer a unique window into Silicon Valley deal-making, as a rotating cast of billionaires and industry execs — from Larry Ellison and Marc Benioff to members of the Murdoch family — slide into Musk’s text messages to discuss Twitter and, in some cases, casually offer financial backing for the deal.

In the days following his private chat with Dorsey, Musk met with Twitter’s board and leadership. On April 5, Musk agreed to join the company’s board, a move that Dorsey championed publicly and privately. In a text exchange with Musk later that day, Dorsey expressed confidence in Parag Agrawal, his successor as Twitter’s CEO. Agrawal also expressed excitement in private texts about Musk joining the board.

But the relationship between Musk and the Twitter CEO appeared to sour quickly.

On April 9, Musk tweeted a question: “Is Twitter dying?” Agrawal followed up that day with a text letting Musk know such comments would make the CEO’s life difficult.

“You are free to tweet ‘is Twitter dying?’ or anything else about Twitter,” Agrawal said in the text to Musk, “but it’s my responsibility to tell you that it’s not helping me make Twitter better in the current context. Next time we speak, I’d like you to provide [your] perspective on the level of internal distraction right now and how [it’s] hurting our ability to do work … I’d like the company to get to a place where we are more resilient and don’t get distracted, but we aren’t there right now.”

Musk responded tersely: “What did you get done this week?” In two follow-up texts, he rescinded his agreement to join the board, saying, “I’m not joining the board. This is a waste of time.” He added: “Will make an offer to take Twitter private.”

In a separate exchange on the same day with Twitter’s board chair Bret Taylor, Musk said: “Fixing Twitter by chatting with Parag won’t work,” Musk said. He added in a follow up text: “Drastic action is needed.”

Musk and Twitter announced an acquisition agreement on April 25. A little more than two months later, Musk said he wanted out of the deal, citing concerns about the number of bot and spam accounts on the platform. Twitter then sued Musk to compel him to follow through with the deal.

The two sides are set to go to trial over the deal next month.

After Musk’s initial investment in Twitter was made public, and with speculation mounting about a possible takeover deal, the billionaire began to receive input from some prominent outside voices.

In a text on April 23, two days before the deal was announced, the controversial podcast host Joe Rogan said to Elon Musk: “I REALLY hope you get Twitter. If you do, we should throw one hell of a party.”

Musk also messaged with bankers and potential investors such as his brother, Kimbal Musk, and Ellison, the billionaire founder of Oracle, in an effort to line up financing for the deal, as well as potential leaders for the new company if his acquisition bid succeeded. Musk and investor Jason Calacanis discussed the latter becoming a strategic advisor or board member. Someone identified in Musk’s texts as “BL Lee” suggested venture capitalist Bill Gurley as Twitter’s new CEO.

In the days after the acquisition deal was announced, Musk discussed ideas for the platform with a host of characters, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and tech investor David Sacks. Sacks suggested that former Michigan congressman Justin Amash should be involved in Twitter’s content moderation efforts.

Musk’s banker Michael Grimes suggested crypto billionaire wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried as an investor who could also help advance Musk’s vision of a Twitter built on the blockchain, the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies.

The new filing also includes a text from Musk to Grimes that was referenced in a hearing earlier this month by Twitter lawyers, who claim that Musk exited the deal not because of his worries about bots but because he was concerned about the stock market decline and geopolitical issues, neither of which would be legitimate reasons to terminate the agreement.

In a May 8 message to Grimes, Musk said that the deal process should “slow down just a few days” ahead of a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin the following day that many worried could escalate the war in Ukraine to other countries. “It won’t make sense to buy Twitter if we’re headed into WW3,” Musk said.

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Business

Elon Musk’s college sweetheart auctions off their mementos

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CNN
 — 

Holding onto an ex’s stuff may prove profitable later on, at least if your ex turns out to be the wealthiest man in the world.

The former girlfriend of tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is auctioning off a cache of photos and Musk memorabilia from her relationship with the billionaire. Jennifer Gwynne, Musk’s college girlfriend, is selling the mementos through Boston-based RR Auction.

Gwynne and Musk started dating in 1994 when they both worked as resident advisers in a university dorm, according to a news release RR Auction shared with CNN. Soon after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Musk started in a doctoral program at Stanford, but dropped out to launch his first startup, Zip2.

The lot includes 18 candid photos of the entrepreneur as a baby-faced economics student at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as several other mementos of Musk and Gwynne’s time together.

The glossy photos show the billionaire looking every bit the normal college student before his meteoric rise to success: goofing off in a dorm room, hanging out with his fellow resident advisers, and cuddling with his girlfriend.

The item with the current highest bid is a signed birthday card, followed by a necklace gifted to Gwynne on her birthday.

“Happy Birthday, Jennifer (aka, Boo-Boo), Love, Elon,” reads the note. As of Sunday morning, the highest bid is almost $7,000. The card is expected to sell for more than $10,000, according to RR.

The gold necklace includes an emerald from the Zambian emerald mine owned by Musk’s father Errol, a wealthy South African property developer and engineer.

“When we went to visit Elon’s mother in Toronto during the Christmas break of 1994, Elon gave me both the small ‘love, love, love’ note and the necklace,” said Gwynne in RR’s statement. “His mom had a number of these necklaces in a case in her bedroom, and Elon told me they were from his father’s emerald mine in South Africa — he pulled one from the case. And because I had not gotten him anything as a Christmas gift (and I felt very guilty about that), he said we would consider the necklace an early birthday present for me.”

“I wore the necklace for a number of years on and off, but it’s mostly been in my jewelry box for the last ten years (always reminding me of Elon, of course).”

The necklace also comes with two photos, one of Musk and Gwynne with Musk’s mother, the model Maye Musk, and one of Musk and Gwynne at an end-of-the-year formal in 1995.

Tesla superfans can place a bid on a piece of Musk-orabilia until Wednesday, when the auction closes.

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