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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Extremely Hardcore summary
Zoë Schiffer
Inside Elon Musk's Twitter
19 mins
Brief summary
Extremely Hardcore by Zoë Schiffer delves into the intense lives of tech industry workers, exposing the relentless pressures and high demands that define their careers, and offering a candid look at the human cost of modern innovation.
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Extremely Hardcore
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A dream of X marking the spot.
Elon Musk’s journey with Twitter got its humble start way back in 2010. He tweeted to simply confirm that his handle, @elonmusk, was indeed him, making sure everyone knew the real Musk from the fakes. It would be completely forgettable if not for the fact that, for the next decade plus, he would continue to have an obsession with fake Twitter users.
Musk’s rise to fame and fortune started earlier, in 1999, when he sold his startup Zip2 to Compaq for a cool $300 million. With his new wealth, Musk bought a McLaren F1 sports car and invested heavily in X.com, an online financial services start-up that eventually became PayPal. Despite being ousted from PayPal, the sale to eBay in 2002 netted him a significant sum, fueling his next big dream: space exploration and the colonization of Mars.
Even as Musk ventured into the final frontier with SpaceX, on Earth he stayed rooted in tech. He invested heavily in Tesla, becoming a central figure in the electric car company’s success. By 2020, Tesla was the world’s most valuable automaker, and Musk had become the richest man in the world.
During this time, his influence on Twitter grew, although not without controversy. One of his tweets about taking Tesla private at $420 per share led to a significant legal battle and hefty fines from the SEC.
Twitter, on the other hand, had its own storied and tumultuous history. Founded by Jack Dorsey and his co-founders in 2006, it became a hub for influential voices in politics, sports, and media. But despite its cultural impact, Twitter struggled to turn a profit and faced challenges with its business model and content moderation, especially as it became a battleground for political discourse and disinformation.
By the 2020 US presidential election, it was clear that a reckoning was on its way. Employees, including Yoel Roth, who focused on platform governance, found themselves at the center of debates on free speech and content moderation. The tipping point came in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot, which resulted in the – at the time – permanent suspension of Donald Trump’s Twitter account on the grounds that he had used the platform to incite violence.
Content moderation was always an important part of the greater Twitter team. The company made most of its money from advertisers, and no advertiser wants to see a screenshot that has one of its ads featured next to a tweet that is promoting violence or hate speech.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk saw himself as a crusader for free speech who chafed at the idea of Twitter censoring or suspending accounts. In early 2022, he began buying Twitter shares in significant amounts and was considering the ways in which he might transform the platform. At the same time, he still held on to his early dream of X.com – an all-in-one platform where messaging, banking, and commerce could all coexist.
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What is Extremely Hardcore about?
Extremely Hardcore (2024) offers a behind-the-scenes look into a pivotal moment in tech history: Elon Musk's high-stakes takeover of Twitter. It offers insights into his unorthodox management style and the profound effects it had on the company and its workforce.
Who should read Extremely Hardcore?
- Anyone interested in a Silicon Valley exposé
- People curious about Elon Musk
- Former Twitter users wondering what happened to their platform
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