significantly, and fully commit to the new ‘Twitter 2.0’, or risk receiving three months of severance. The Aftermath Since Musk bought Twitter, there have not been many positive impacts to report. According to Media Matters, half of the top advertisers boycotted the social site, which was responsible for paying Twitter $2 billion since 2020. This hit led Musk to admit that bankruptcy wasn’t out of the question in November last year. In addition to this, numerous lawsuits have been filed from over 100 employees. Cases ranged from severance pay disputes to multiple areas of discrimination. Downsizingplansalso faced legal problems in Europe – with UK unions receiving significant complaints, responses from tough employment laws in Ireland and the EU, as well as concerns that Europe’s new Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts would not be adhered to. As the story continued, Musk suffered the greatest loss of personal wealth in history with a $182 billion drop. With the Twitter scandal polluting the news, it is not a surprise that Musk’s other ventures were hit too, as Tesla shareholders accused Musk had abandoning them after a $700 billion drop in Tesla’s value on the stock market. It’s déjà vu for Musk Although we mostly see Twitter in the news, this disregard for governance is not an isolated event for Musk. Recently, he faced a lawsuit from shareholders over a 2018 tweet that stated a major investor was found for Tesla - but one never came. In addition, there have been complaints of Musk breaking labour laws from SpaceX employees, and Neuralink, another Muskowned enterprise, faced a federal probe after employee backlash of animal testing programmes. Lessons Learned Musk is a clear example of the worstcase scenario for governance. From him, business leaders can learn several lessons about its importance. His supporters will argue that his success as a businessman allowed him to get to this position in the first place. This is true and cannot be denied. However, this skill is evidently starting to wane – due to, in my opinion, his obsession with the spotlight. Leaders of any kind need mentors and critical voices around them to ensure good governance of a company. These board members will aid in preventing poor management decisions, unnecessary legal battles, and needless reputational damage to the company. When in these leadership positions, whether executive level or board level, it is imperative that education and engagement is made a priority. Musk followed these principles of good governance, we may have seen a very different outcome for himself and Twitter. DavidW. Duffy is the CEO and co-founder of the Corporate Governance Institute. 27 THE DISRUPTORS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk3Mzkz