Breaking Twitter
Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History
Ben Mezrich
“In October 2022, Elon Musk marched through Twitter’s front doors after buying the digital giant for $44 billion. His takeover came with the promise of fundamental change, but nothing could prepare the company for the chaos to come – brutal mass firings, an exodus of advertisers and ‘blue-tick’ celebrities and a vicious battle for control. With unique access to Twitter insiders and Musk’s confidants, this is the astonishing story from all sides. Why did Elon overhaul Twitter’s blue-tick system, and how did it lead to the near-collapse of the company’s revenue? Will Twitter – now X – survive? How has the constant negative press coverage affected Elon? With a wealth of hidden details, Breaking Twitter gives ringside seats to one of the most dramatic and compelling business stories of our time.”
I went into Breaking Twitter hoping for a sharp, insightful account of one of the most chaotic corporate takeovers in recent history. What I got instead was something far thinner, messier, and frankly exhausting.
This book is largely about the people who worked at Twitter before and during the Musk era. While that could have been interesting, it never quite lands. It is not a comprehensive or deeply researched story of the takeover itself, nor does it offer much meaningful insight into how or why things unfolded the way they did. For a book tackling such a huge, controversial moment in tech and media, it surprisingly does not have much to say.
I did not like Elon Musk before reading this, and I definitely do not like him now. Even that takeaway feels obvious and unearned. The narrative jumps constantly between perspectives and characters/employees, many of whom are difficult to keep track of and even harder to care about. I found myself repeatedly asking who this person is and why they matter. Too often, the answer was that they do not.
The book feels unpolished and directionless, with a judgmental tone that replaces analysis. Rather than building a clear argument or storyline, it follows several vaguely unlikeable characters who ultimately add very little to the broader picture. They seem to exist mostly for cinematic moments rather than because they meaningfully advance the story.
There is also an underlying irony that is hard to ignore. The author condemns Musk’s narcissism, yet the book itself suffers from a similar problem. There is an inflated sense of importance about Twitter, its internal dramas, and the people orbiting it. I genuinely cannot believe how much anyone cares about Twitter at all, from the tweets to the drama to what Musk might say next, or the crowds willing to follow him off a cliff because of it. The obsession feels baffling.
By the end, I felt worse for having read this book, the same hollow and irritated feeling you get after spending too much time doom scrolling on social media. 1 star.
