On Twitter/X, Abramson was even more vicious, arguing that Musk has “run the platform into the ground” and will be studied in business schools for centuries as a case study in how to destroy a product with reckless mismanagement. This kind of financial destruction aligns with real-world lessons on crisis management, executive failure insurance, and digital platform viability.
Public Perception, Money, and the Intelligence Myth. Abramson’s broader thesis is that Musk’s image as a visionary thinker is entirely fabricated. “Everything he’s said about Twitter/X was a lie,” he said, asserting that the businessman’s tactics amounted to little more than buying influence, manipulating media narratives, and monetizing public attention through sensationalism and controversy.
Such media manipulation could fall into discussions around advertising fraud, public relations insurance, and defamation law.
He attacked the idea that throwing money at ventures or buying out competitors constituted intelligence. “It does not take intelligence to throw money around and buy a company or buy a politician. Anyone would/could,” Abramson stated, striking at the heart of Musk’s brand as a disruptor.
In perhaps his most damning assessment, Abramson argued that American culture is uniquely susceptible to conflating wealth with intelligence. “It is also a particularly American disease to confuse wealth with intelligence and corporations with those who own them,” he wrote. Abroad, such conversations would seem ridiculous, as the notion that Musk has any meaningful intellectual achievements is, in Abramson’s view, unsubstantiated. These comments intersect with conversations on financial wellness, behavioral economics, and even mental health assessments regarding intelligence attribution.
