By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
I don’t know how you feel, of course, but I’ve grown weary of the egocentric rants of the man who may be the richest person on earth – Elon Musk.
His “yes, I want it” and “no, I don’t want it” gamesmanship culminating with his apparent eventual purchase of Twitter recently reminded me of two pre-schoolers quarreling over Lego pieces.
He said the Twitter folks had padded the numbers of subscribers and inflated the value of their company. They told him to prove it and the tit-for-tat went on for weeks while investors fussed and cussed as the stock price went up and down like a yo-yo.
Finally, ole moneybags said he reached into his vault and came up with the original $44 billion he offered back in April but then tried to back out of in July before flip-flopping in favor of buying. By the way, he is said to be worth more than $200 billion.
Meanwhile, the man from South Africa and Canada and Silicon Valley – who owns Tesla electric vehicles and SpaceX and Starlink – has made new friends and enemies by meddling in international affairs and perhaps switching sides in the war in Ukraine.
Starlink is Musk’s network of 2,200 low-orbit communications satellites that has become the lifeline of the Ukrainian military and the embattled country’s civilian population. The high-tech system has been vital to Ukraine’s amazing battlefield success against the military might of the invading Russians.
Musk, who claims to be on speaking terms with Vladimir Putin, told the world a few days ago that his company is spending $20 million monthly to support those satellites over Ukraine and that someone will have to assume that expense or he will literally pull the plug.
When that war started last winter, Musk said the Starlink operation would be his gift to Ukraine. Being able to talk out of both sides of your mouth must be an occupational hazard, no doubt, for the super-rich.
He also said the Ukrainians should let Russia have the territory already conquered and make peace. A Ukraine diplomat told him what he should do with that silly suggestion, but I cannot describe it accurately in this family newspaper.
(Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com).