The ongoing X and Elon Musk Transgressions Thread

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I am a little lost on this. If your $44b company goes down the drain, how do you begin to make that up through tax write-offs?

[Enoch Root]

Seriously though, you can't simply make up for losing $44B. But you can crystalize unrealized gains, in order to reduce your tax liability. An overly simplified example:

1) you lose $44B on Twitter (LOL)
2) you have $100B in unrealized gains on TSLA (because you don't realize the gains until you sell the asset)
3) on that $100B, let's say you owe $50B in taxes (for easy math - in reality, it would be less than this)
4) you crystalize $44B of TSLA, matching the loss on Twitter, and subsequently reducing your tax liability by $22B

That doesn't just make the $44B loss magically go away, but assuming that he has unrealized gains (there is zero doubt that he does), he can at least reduce his future tax liabilities, somewhat reducing the hit.

[Fuzz]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1591698385824018433

Musk getting publicly fact-checked by his own website will never not be funny.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

The office spouse is always a lot more fun and pleasant to be around then the at home spouse. Plus there are no kids around so that is a huge bonus.

Haha I had this thought too. Yeah another reason management level probably prefers being in the office is they're high enough up the food chain where being in the office is actually fun. Get that jocular office vibe they love, and it's easier to see the side piece when you're going into the office.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Seriously though, you can't simply make up for losing $44B. But you can crystalize unrealized gains, in order to reduce your tax liability. An overly simplified example:

1) you lose $44B on Twitter (LOL)
2) you have $100B in unrealized gains on TSLA (because you don't realize the gains until you sell the asset)
3) on that $100B, let's say you owe $50B in taxes (for easy math - in reality, it would be less than this)
4) you crystalize $44B of TSLA, matching the loss on Twitter, and subsequently reducing your tax liability by $22B

That doesn't just make the $44B loss magically go away, but assuming that he has unrealized gains (there is zero doubt that he does), he can at least reduce his future tax liabilities, somewhat reducing the hit.

Well that “crystallized loss on his reputation” is the bigger issue. Like there were a lot of people who seem to think he’s brilliant, but this has been a debacle. It’s pretty clear he has no idea what he’s doing.

[Yikes]

Musk is just another tech moron hell bent on creating "things" that basically destroy the work force. Don't know if it is the whole revenge of the nerds thing or what but it's funny...pretty much every tech "founder" wants to pick away at the workforce with their tech. Creating tech to eliminate jobs seem to be their mantra without a single care to the longer term ramifications.



Musk is just another short term thinking pied piper, the only way he will ever make money is to create hype, issue stock, create debt and then steal from the kitty ahead of all others. When the s**t hits the fan, hide behind lawyers.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Yikes

Creating tech to eliminate jobs seem to be their mantra without a single care to the longer term ramifications.

You mean literally the principle on which all human progress in the last couple hundred years is based on?

Musk is a twat, but I personally wouldn't peg it on this specific reason.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

You mean literally the principle on which all human progress in the last couple hundred years is based on?

Musk is a twat, but I personally wouldn't peg it on this specific reason.

These tractor manufacturers are just trying to drive hard working plowmen out of business.
It's unconscionable!

[Yikes]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

You mean literally the principle on which all human progress in the last couple hundred years is based on?

Musk is a twat, but I personally wouldn't peg it on this specific reason.

Assembly line, industrial revolution...efficiencies...sure...of course. BUT not at the level of speed technology and tech guys go after it. They seem to create glee out of saying "thousands of jobs will be eliminated by this technology".

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

These tractor manufacturers are just trying to drive hard working plowmen out of business.
It's unconscionable!

They had to break the formidable Ploughman's Union somehow.

[CroFlames]

So is Musk actually a comedic genius? The fake verified accounts have had me howling at times.

[photon]

I guess Musk and some of his devs had a public, uh, discussion about software performance.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/...tter_rpc_spat/

Mildly amusing for anyone who's had to deal with tech management.

Both my manager and my manager's manager are former technical people but for the most part they're both good in recognizing they haven't dug deep into things for a while and trust me and my team's assessments, so I can't complain.

[Yikes]

Originally Posted by photon

I guess Musk and some of his devs had a public, uh, discussion about software performance.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/...tter_rpc_spat/

Mildly amusing for anyone who's had to deal with tech management.

Both my manager and my manager's manager are former technical people but for the most part they're both good in recognizing they haven't dug deep into things for a while and trust me and my team's assessments, so I can't complain.

Thanks for that...pretty intense actually. Kind of obvious these peeps want Musk to shut up and go away.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by photon

I guess Musk and some of his devs had a public, uh, discussion about software performance.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/...tter_rpc_spat/

Mildly amusing for anyone who's had to deal with tech management.

Both my manager and my manager's manager are former technical people but for the most part they're both good in recognizing they haven't dug deep into things for a while and trust me and my team's assessments, so I can't complain.

As long as you keep putting those cover letters on your TPS reports then the managers can stay out of your hair.

[Wormius]

Wonder how much he really regrets not taking that $1b out. I suppose it would be worse for his hubris than just doing whatever he is doing now with this micromanager showman display.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well that “crystallized loss on his reputation” is the bigger issue. Like there were a lot of people who seem to think he’s brilliant, but this has been a debacle. It’s pretty clear he has no idea what he’s doing.

No question - his biggest loss from all this will be to his reputation.

And to be clear, I was not suggesting that he (intentionally) took on Twitter as a tax write-off (LOL). I was merely answering the poster's question of how that works.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Wonder how much he really regrets not taking that $1b out. I suppose it would be worse for his hubris than just doing whatever he is doing now with this micromanager showman display.

I don't think that was an option. He could have tried, but Twitter would have sued him to make him complete the deal and chances are he would have ended up having to buy it anyway.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by opendoor

I don't think that was an option. He could have tried, but Twitter would have sued him to make him complete the deal and chances are he would have ended up having to buy it anyway.

The more interesting thing is if he just doesn't have anyone who can talk sense into him when it comes to decisions like buying twitter or if he just disregards them all.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

The more interesting thing is if he just doesn't have anyone who can talk sense into him when it comes to decisions like buying twitter or if he just disregards them all.

Someone must have warned him about the risk in waiving all diligence on the transaction.

[pseudoreality]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Seriously though, you can't simply make up for losing $44B. But you can crystalize unrealized gains, in order to reduce your tax liability. An overly simplified example:

1) you lose $44B on Twitter (LOL)
2) you have $100B in unrealized gains on TSLA (because you don't realize the gains until you sell the asset)
3) on that $100B, let's say you owe $50B in taxes (for easy math - in reality, it would be less than this)
4) you crystalize $44B of TSLA, matching the loss on Twitter, and subsequently reducing your tax liability by $22B

That doesn't just make the $44B loss magically go away, but assuming that he has unrealized gains (there is zero doubt that he does), he can at least reduce his future tax liabilities, somewhat reducing the hit.

So,

Option A - Pay $50B in taxes, which go to Health Care, building schools, etc.

Option B - Lose $44B and pay $22B in taxes for a net of $66B out of your pocket and less money for the public good.

What a great, smart human being Musk is by choosing Option B.