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"I think that if he wanted to make money, he wouldn't have bought Twitter. He wouldn't have sent rockets to Mars, and he probably wouldn't do electric vehicles," he added.
Despite sweeping changes at Twitter since a $44 billion acquisition in October, Musk announced on Saturday that the company was still losing money due to declining ad revenues, Insider reported.
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In a conversation about the declining ad revenues, Isaacson did not explicitly state what Musk's primary motivation is but said he thought Musk's penchant for being a contrarian drives his decision-making at Twitter. "He loves putting out impulsive tweets, and he loves the contentiousness of it. His favorite line in a movie is: "Are you not entertained?" — that final line of 'The Gladiator.'"
Musk is no stranger to contentiousness, having drawn both plaudits and criticism for his management style.
Isaacson's upcoming Musk biography is expected to delve into his "abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings" and a "craving for drama," according to book publisher Simon & Schuster.
The biographer has also previously made references to Musk's "demon mode" — describing him as industrious but "dark" and "with a real lack of empathy." Insider's Sarah Jackson previously reported that Musk's approach to management often involves "nano-management" and explosive rage-firings.
Isaacson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment outside of regular business hours.
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