In the last few years, Elon Musk and Kanye West have established a reputation among the most controversial personalities in the social media space, mainly because of their off-the-cuff, insensitive, and sometimes plain delusion comments and political stance. But, simultaneously, they accumulated loads of wealth. Likewise, Mark Zuckerberg has made many questionable comments, and his robotic behavior only added to his odd character. But in his case, the extent of his company's lack of moral bearing, now Meta and forever Facebook, certainly set his reputation as one of the world's most heartless and apathetic people. Still, the entrepreneur was among the top ten wealthiest Americans not long ago.
Only a couple of years back, they were riding the highs, exponentially increasing their wealth, and celebrated as disruptor entrepreneurs reshaping industries, behaviors, entertainment, politics, and the world. However, now they are most optimistically in hot waters or on the brink of being canceled.
In November last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk became the first person to obtain a $300 billion fortune. Less than a year later, he lost more than 100 billion dollars. However, although, according to Forbes, he is still the wealthiest person on the planet, his Twitter buying imbroglio made him sell more Tesla stocks, forcing the electric cars company to lose value.
Kanye West's Antisemitism comments took $1.5 billion off his net worth because Adidas cut ties with the music producer and fashion entrepreneur. Ye's wealth, formerly known as Kanye West, is no way closer to the other two, but like them, his erratic behavior, questionable ethics, and public statements begin to take a toll, and he starts to lose public opinion support everywhere too.
Zuckerberg is now the 20th wealthiest person with a total net worth of $55.3 billion—down $70.2 billion due to Meta's sharp share price decline. But while Zuckerberg is trying to recreate his social media-based empire in the metaverse space, the other two are doubling down on having their own megaphones. Musk just closed the 44 billion to buy Twitter, and Ye is allegedly in talks to buy the ultra-right social network Parler.
They have many differences, but social media have them in common. A lot! However, interestingly, social media is ultimately hurting their personal brands – and businesses too. It's true; money talks and their business losses speak loud and clear.
The most ambitious and successful innovator and entrepreneur of this era, Musk is now the sole director of Twitter – Musk has fired the company's board of directors – has unfettered control over the social media platform. A self-described "free-speech absolutist," he plans to ease Twitter moderation rules. The social chatter around Twitter changes has already shown that many celebrities and civilians are leaving the platform over the fear of hate speech increase.
Last week, George Farmer, the chief executive of Parler's parent company, Parlement Technologies, confirmed talks about Ye, another self-described "free-speech absolutist, buying the right-wing platform, saying: "This deal will change the world and change the way the world thinks about free speech."
Freedom of speech was also a flag carried by Zuckerberg to try to justify Facebook's use of algorithms to subvert the openness of democracy, most famously during the 2016 US Presidential Election and Brexit. Claiming to be championing freedom of speech, Elon Musk also wasn't shy to say that banning Trump from Twitter was a mistake. He wasn't afraid of meddling in the Ukraine war, spreading Covid lies, and, most recently, retweeting conspiracy theories about the Pelosi attack.
Whether their business is booming or tanking, powerful people want more than wealth and business influence. They want to be heard and have a say in pretty much anything in how the world works. In short, they want to claim their political power. As a result, social media has become the ultimate battlefield for authority in a world where reality means much less than perception each day. But owning your megaphone gives you way more power than 120 characters could ever do. It allows you to instantly shift the narrative and public opinion, stirring it in whatever direction you want it to. All in the name of freedom of speech. However, it can also take you to your demise at the same speed.
Threatened by cancellation and woke culture, Musk and Ye are ensuring they will have a space to freely speak directly to people. Zuckerberg is taking Meta in a different direction though - how this will unfold in the metaverse still needs to be clarified. But Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and other social media platforms are based in the United States and have faced relatively little government oversight. So, it is very concerning when mighty, wealthy, and ethnically controversial people buy their own platforms to avoid being banned by others and keep their influence reach.
The silver lining is that people are worried that this century's disruptors have too much power, and in the name of freedom of speech, they are contributing to a more divisive and dangerous global town square. It highlights the need for solid government regulations for these private tech giant companies' megaphones. It echoes what John Naughton – professor of the public understanding of technology at the Open University – wrote in a The Guardian article earlier this year: "Twitter is not the town square – it's just a private shop. The square belongs to us all."