Elon Musk just proved why CEOs shouldn't have absolute power

Elon Musk is almost always newsworthy, but even for him, the past week has made headlines. First, the world learned on Wednesday that last November, weeks before Musk's second child was born with musician Grimes, he secretly fathered twins with rising star Shivon Zilis. artificial intelligence and director of operations and special projects. to Musk's Neuralink company. The births came to light after Insider uncovered court documents granting Zilis and Musk's request that the babies' names be changed, adding their father's last name and making their mother's last name be part of their middle names.

Then on Friday, in a regulatory filing, Musk sought to formally reverse his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, claiming the company had failed to provide requested information on the prevalence of bots (tweeting algorithms) on the platform - or at least not in a useful enough format. It wasn't exactly surprising. Musk seems to have tried to get out of this purchase almost from the moment his offer was accepted – which most likely surprised him. It's unclear exactly how the whole Twitter saga will work out for Musk, as he made a firm offer in writing to buy the company and that offer was not contingent on whether or not there were bots on the platform. In fact, he waived his right to due diligence to close the deal quickly.

Twitter responded with a tweet saying the company planned to sue Musk to make sure the deal went through. The value of Twitter shares and Tesla shares, which Musk is using to fund the deal, have fallen significantly since Musk first decided to buy Twitter, so some observers believe that all of this posturing is irrelevant. is only a prelude to a renegotiation. purchase at a lower price. If Musk really does retire, it's likely he'll have to pay at least $1 billion in charges, and potentially much more.

If indeed Musk fails to buy Twitter and suffers the financial consequences, it won't be the first time something like this has happened to him. He tweeted in 2018 that he had "secured funding" to take Tesla private when it turned out to be wrong. He and Tesla were each fined $20 million as a result, and Musk was forced to step down as chairman of the company for three years, although he retained his position as CEO.

So the hubbub on Twitter may be business as usual for Musk, but news of the secret twins is yet another thing. The timing of this revelation feels like it's part of a very bad pattern. About six weeks ago, a judge ruled that a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment at Tesla could proceed, despite the company's attempt to shut it down by invoking an arbitration clause. And days before, Insider reported that SpaceX paid $250,000 for a flight attendant's silence about Musk's inappropriate behavior and sexual advances while flying on a company jet. (Musk denied the harassment allegations but did not comment on the payment.)

In light of these other accusations, Musk's affair with Zilis, as well as the secrecy surrounding it, looks very much like one more example of a spoiled, out-of-control billionaire seeking sex with no one. any young woman who finds herself in reaching, and enabling or even promoting an atmosphere of sexual harassment throughout her workplace. It's a shame because data science in general and artificial intelligence in particular are fields completely dominated by white men. Four years ago, AI expert Rana el Kaliouby said she attended the premiere of a new AI documentary