Tech

Elon Musk Is The First Person Ever To Lose $200 Billion

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Elon Musk has certainly been all over the news in recent months. It appears as though this trend will be continuing into the new year.

His recent acquisition of Twitter and his controversial ways of handling the company remains one of the most discussed topics online. The latest story says that the 51-year-old reportedly lost $200 billion. However, this has nothing to do with the social media platform.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks up as he addresses guests at the Offshore Northern Seas 2022 (ONS) meeting in Stavanger, Norway on August 29, 2022. (Photo by CARINA JOHANSEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

Musk is the first person in history to lose this much money from his net worth. The huge financial loss arrives at the heels of Tesla shares dropping drastically. According to Bloomberg‘s Billionaires Index, the stock saw an 11% decrease on Tuesday (December 27).

Of course, this news comes nearly two years after he became only the second person to ever reach a personal fortune of more than $200 billion. Although, even after the loss, his net worth is still estimated to be a whopping $137 billion.

In other recent news surrounding the SpaceX CEO, reports allege that he is responsible for another mass firing at Twitter. In an effort to cut costs, Musk fired every member of the janitorial staff at the company’s San Fransisco offices.

“With people packed into more confined spaces, the smell of leftover takeout food and body odor has lingered on the floors, according to four current and former employees. Bathrooms have grown dirty, these people said. And because janitorial services have largely been ended, some workers have resorted to bringing their own rolls of toilet paper from home,” writes The New York Times in their report.

Just a couple of weeks ago, he announced he will be stepping down as Twitter’s CEO in the near future. This came after he ran a poll asking the platform’s users if he should do so. “I will abide by the results of this poll,” he writes. After over 17 million votes, 57.5% of them answered yes. It will certainly be interesting to see if he sticks to his word.

What are your thoughts on Musk’s most recent antics? Comment down below. Finally, make sure to stay tuned to HNHH for the latest updates.

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Tesla To Finish As One Of The Worst Performing Stocks Of 2022

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Tesla is set to finish 2022 as one of the worst-performing stocks of the year. In the two months since owner Elon Musk purchased Twitter, shares of Tesla have dropped 45%. In total, the stock is down 65% since January.

Instead of uncertainty in Musk, himself, since the Twitter acquisition, the billionaire says interest rates are to blame.

BERLIN, GERMANY DECEMBER 01: SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer Award 2020 on December 01, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images)

“In simple terms: as bank savings account interest rates, which are guaranteed, start to approach stock market returns, which are not guaranteed, people will increasingly move their money out of stocks into cash, thus causing stocks to drop,” Musk recently wrote on Twitter.

Tesla investor and Future Fund manager Gary Black challenged him in the replies. He cited differences between Telsa’s fall-off and the rest of the market.

“Elon – you can’t compare a very short duration bank with long duration $TSLA stock…,” Black wrote back. “Since you closed on TWTR, TSLA [is down] -38% vs NDX [Nasdaq 100] -1%. If it was all [interest] rates, NDX would be down a similar amount.”

Musk has sold nearly $40 billion worth of Tesla stock since last year. As recently as earlier this month, he dropped off another $3.6 billion. Afterward, he vowed to stop selling Tesla stock until at least 2024; however, he’s broken similar promises in the past.

Additionally, Tesla is offering a $7,500 discount on Model 3 and Model Y vehicles delivered in the U.S. this month.

Musk said last week that he intends to resign as head of Twitter once the company identifies a successor. He previously ran a poll asking whether he should do so.

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Snoop Dogg Suggests Himself As Elon Musk’s Twitter Replacement

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Could Elon Musk’s short-lived reign as head of Twitter be coming to an end? If the results of his most recent poll on the app mean anything, then the answer is a resounding yes. Luckily, there are already a few brave souls brave enough to want to replace him should he depart.

As AllHipHop notes, the South African became the proud owner of the social media site at the end of October. Since then, we’ve seen nothing short of chaos ensue with mass layoffs and lawsuit threats. Lately, there’s even been the suspension of several journalists from the platform.

CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing “Cyber Rodeo” grand opening party on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas. – Tesla welcomed throngs of electric car lovers to Texas on April 7 for a huge party inaugurating a “gigafactory” the size of 100 professional soccer fields. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP) (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking of the latter matter, Musk also used a Twitter poll to determine whether reporters who he claimed were guilty of doxxing him should be allowed back on the app immediately, or if they should have to wait a week. Later, the father of 10 spoke to some of the unbanned during a Spaces session. When his actions were compared to how the site previously handled the Hunter Biden article, he was quick to leave the chat.

On Sunday (December 18), the CEO asked his 122.2M followers if he should “step down as head” of his recent multi-billion dollar purchase. “I will abide by the results of this poll.

The final count shows that 42.5% want Musk to stay in his position. The majority 57.5%, though, would be happy to see him relinquish some control. This is likely largely due to the consistent and unusual changes he’s making on the popular platform.

First it was charging a monthly fee to obtain a verified badge (thus resulting in an abundance of impersonations). Now he’s preventing users from promoting their other social media profiles on Twitter. As a result, many are becoming increasingly disappointed in their recent user experience.

A report from TMZ reveals that on Sunday (December 18), Musk made an announcement via Support. “We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms,” the statement reads.

“However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter. Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post.”

To clarify, Support noted that they’re banning the cross-posting of content between sites. What they want to avoid is “unadulterated plugging of one’s other accounts” that lead away from Twitter. It seems that Linktree URLs are also prohibited, which many content creators use to direct fans to their various pages.

Amid all the chaos, Snoop Dogg has come forward on the website with an interesting poll of his own. “Should I run Twitter?” the Death Row head asked his 20.8M followers yesterday.

A resounding 81% have voted yes so far, with another six hours left to get yours in at the time of publishing.

Do you think Snoop Dogg would be a good contender for Twitter head in the event that Elon Musk steps down? Let us know below, and check back later for any updates on the situation.

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Remember When They Wanted to Ban TikTok? It’s Already Starting To Happen

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U.S. lawmakers and politicians have been increasingly waging war on TikTok, the hugely popular social media app owned by Chinese company Bytedance.  

TikTok’s critics have accused the app of being a direct channel to the Chinese government and, thus, a privacy and cybersecurity risk. In particular, they have raised concerns that TikTok collects massive amounts of data from U.S. citizens. It may be shared with the Chinese government and could be used to interfere with U.S. elections by spreading misinformation.

The app is already banned from all devices issued by the U.S. military. This past Wednesday, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill banning the app from all devices issued by federal agencies. The bill contains exceptions for law enforcement, national security, and security research.

Earlier this past week, the governors of Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Utah ordered their agencies to prohibit the app on all state-issued devices. These states join Texas, Maryland, South Carolina, and Nebraska, which already have similar bans.   These bans also include, for example, blocking the use of the app on campus and dorm WiFi at state universities. 

Sen. Marco Rubio (R. Fla.) is leading a bipartisan effort to pass a law banning TikTok altogether in the U.S. The proposed legislation would ban social media companies belonging to “countries of concern,” i.e., China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. 

In a statement on its website, TikTok states that it stores U.S. user data in the United States and that none of its data is subject to Chinese law. It says further that it has never been asked to remove content by the Chinese government and would not do so if asked.   However, in July 2022, TikTok confirmed in a letter to U.S. Senators that employees outside the U.S., including China-based employees, could access data on U.S. users. 

Implanting a U.S.-wide TikTok ban would present a formidable challenge. Over a billion users visit the TikTok site each month, and substantial commercial interests use TikTok as a platform and rely on its services.   A TikTok ban would likely be politically unpopular. It would raise the question of why foreign social media companies are being singled out when there are domestic social media companies, such as Facebook, that are equally capable of disrupting U.S. elections through the spread of propaganda and misinformation.

The post Remember When They Wanted to Ban TikTok? It’s Already Starting To Happen appeared first on The Source.

Nancy Pelosi Pushes TikTok Ban on Government Devices for New Funding Bill

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is supporting legislation calls to ban TikTok on government devices. Pelosi is backing funding that received unanimous support and is close to being in place next week.

The bill will head to President Biden’s desk for a signature once it is adopted in a Senate version of the government funding bill.

According to The Hill, The Senate unanimously approved Sen. Josh Hawley’s “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” this past Wednesday, prohibiting the downloading or using of the video-sharing app TikTok on “any device issued by the United States or a government corporation” by certain figures in government.

GOP-led states are also pushing for a federal ban on the Chinese-owned social media app.

In response, TikTok’s Brooke Oberwetter states, “politicians with national security concerns should encourage the Administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok.”

“The agreement under review will meaningfully address any security concerns that have been raised at both the federal and state level. These plans have been developed under the oversight of our country’s top national security agencies—plans that we are well underway in implementing—to further secure our platform in the United States, and we will continue to brief lawmakers on them.”

The post Nancy Pelosi Pushes TikTok Ban on Government Devices for New Funding Bill appeared first on The Source.

Elon Musk Offers To Step Down As Head Of Twitter In New Poll

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Elon Musk has posted a poll asking his Twitter followers whether he should step down as head of the social media platform. Musk says that he plans to abide by the results, whatever they may be.

“Should I step down as head of Twitter?” Musk tweeted. “I will abide by the results of this poll.”

BERLIN, GERMANY DECEMBER 01: SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer Award 2020 on December 01, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images)

In further posts, he added: “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it,” as well as, “Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it.”

Prior to releasing the poll, he announced that decisions would be made democratically going forward.

He said: “Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again.”

Musk didn’t confirm who at Twitter would replace him. However, when Lex Fridman offered to take up the mantle, he gave some insight as to how he’s been coping with taking over the site.

“You must like pain a lot,” Musk said. “One catch: you have to invest your life savings in Twitter and it has been in the fast lane to bankruptcy since May. Still want the job?”

As of Sunday night, the poll sits at 56.5% in favor of Musk stepping down and 43.5% in support of him staying on. Over 10 million users have participated.

It isn’t the first time that Musk has made a decision for the platform based on a user poll. He previously welcomed Donald Trump back to the site after conducting a similar poll.

Check out Musk’s recent posts on Twitter below.

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Elon Musk Frees Several Journalists From Twitter Jail After Doxxing Accusations

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As has come to be the norm lately, Elon Musk is making waves with his leadership decisions over at Twitter. After making the controversial decision to suspend the accounts of a number of journalists for allegedly doxxing him, the CEO is now responding to the backlash by reinstating several of their profiles.

As TMZ reports, the South African shared a statement on Friday (December 16) after polling the app’s users to see if they thought he should unsuspend “accounts who doxxed [his] exact location in real-time.” 58.7% of the votes came in favour of the reporters getting their privileges back in real-time. The remainder (41.3%) felt as though a seven-day penalty would be fair.

“The people have spoken. Accounts that doxxed my location will have their suspensions lifted now,” Musk wrote yesterday. Among those who he banned were Donie O’Sullivan of CNN and Drew Harwell from the Washington Post.

Additionally, Matt Binder (Mashable), Ryan Mac (New York Times), and Micah Lee (The Intercept) were recipients of Musk’s punishment. The Tesla founder specifically has accused them of disclosing personal details about his whereabouts. Per TMZ, much of the information these journalists use is already publicly available.

Those accused by the 51-year-old have vehemently denied any publishing of his private info. However, they do have some theories as to why he temporarily shut down their profiles in the first place.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk smiles as he addresses guests at the Offshore Northern Seas 2022 (ONS) meeting in Stavanger, Norway on August 29, 2022. – The meeting, held in Stavanger from August 29 to September 1, 2022, presents the latest developments in Norway and internationally related to the energy, oil and gas sector. – Norway OUT (Photo by Carina Johansen / NTB / AFP) / Norway OUT (Photo by CARINA JOHANSEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

The journalists seem to think that Musk is taking offence to their less-than-favourable coverage of him. After he made the decision to suspend reporters, both Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff were quick to put the engineer on blast.

During an online chat that found the father of 10 meeting with those whose accounts he put on hold, it was pointed out that he’s been acting in a hypocritical manner. Previously, Elon criticized Twitter’s bosses for their suppression of the infamous Hunter Biden story.

In response to the call out, the CEO made it plain and clear, “If you dox, you get suspended. End of story, that’s it.” Afterward, he quickly left the conversation.

It seems Elon Musk is facing haters all over as of late. Just last week, he was booed by the crowd at a Dave Chappelle show. Read more about that here, and check back with HNHH later for more pop culture news updates.

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Beats By Dre Partners With Black Creators To Make Afrofuturism Content

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The Beats by Dre‘s Beats by Black Creators program challenged HBCU students to create a film and soundtrack based on the Afrofuturism concept.

With that being said, Maze is a coming-of-age psychological thriller directed by Spellman student Miya Scaggs! In fact, the thrilling new project came about as a collaborative concept as it was penned by two Howard students, Sabrina Anthony and Troy White. 

MORE: SOURCE SPORTS: Beats by Dre & Ja Morant Introduce ‘Dark Mode’ to Roblox

It follows Zola, a second-generation Nigerian teenager who must overcome trauma. Her relationship with her mother is gradually becoming explosive due to a lack of understanding and the pressure of success, weighed down by the pains of her father’s death. Returning home from college, her brother, Sulu, gifted her a Quantum Cognition VR game to help her work through her psychological trauma. Maze will test Zola’s reasoning and force her to confront her current reality head on.

As a result, Maze will challenge Zola’s thinking and force her to confront her present reality head-on. As for the 12-track soundtrack masterpiece, rising pop artist Say Rex arrives astoundingly on the properly produced by the Howard students that wrote the film, S.E. Anthony, and Tragic Johnson. Outside of Beats, the project has already garnered attention from Revolt, Kollege Kidd, and many more! In doing so, the film features a beautiful blend of film and featured futuristic AfroFusion soundscapes.

MORE: Lil Baby Releases New Song “Dark Mode” About Ja Morant in New Beats Campaign

Keeping up the momentum, Say Rex returns with his most recent release! He drops off his debut EP, I AM SAY REX.

His latest offering comes as his influential introduction into the industry. Since stepping on the scene, he has worked with Sean Kingston on “Carry Your Name” featuring Lil Durk artist Affiliate, Memo600, “Meant To Be” featuring Lauryn Hill’s son and the grandson of the legendary Bob Marley, YG Marley. Additionally, “Meant To Be” serves as the lead single with an accompanying VEVO Music video.

For now, stay tuned here at The Source to stay update to date with The Beats by Black Creators. 

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Elon Musk Plans To Sue Twitter Employees Who Break NDAs And Spill To Media

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The headlines surrounding Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover at Twitter have slowed down recently. However, a new update reveals that the CEO is having issues with his staff leaking private information to the media. As TMZ notes, the South African is responding by threatening legal action against anyone who breaks their contractual NDA.

Platformer editor Zoë Schiffer obtained a copy of the engineer’s correspondence with Twitter workers. She later directly shared quotes from it on her own profile. “NEW: Elon Musk is threatening to sue Twitter employees who leak confidential information to the press,” she wrote on Saturday (December 10).

“He’s asking staffers to sign a pledge indicating they’ve understood,” she went on. In the following thread, the journalist broke down what she read in the original document.

Musk’s email began, “As evidenced by the many detailed leaks of confidential Twitter information, a few people at our company continue to act in a manner contrary to the company’s interests and in violation of their NDA.”

“This will be said only once: If you clearly and deliberately violate the NDA that you signed when you joined, you accept liability to the full extent of the law & Twitter will immediately seek damages.”

The 51-year-old additionally let his staff know that “occasional slip-ups are understandable.” However, “breaking your word by sending detailed info to the media” with intentions of harming the website “will receive the response it deserves.”

According to Schiffer’s reporting, Twitter employees were given until 5 PM today to respond.

For his part, Musk has been posting commentary seemingly related to today’s events. “Twitter is both a social media company and a crime scene,” he penned on Saturday afternoon.

In his next post, the investor shared a meme. It surprisingly hints at him digging up some of the app’s “darkest secrets,” only causing more of a stir online.

Elsewhere in the news, Elon Musk’s brain implant company has been placed under investigation for potential animal abuse. Read more about that here, and share your thoughts on Twitter’s latest troubles in the comments.

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Apple Announces New Apple Music Sing Feature

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Apple Announces New Apple Music Sing Feature

The exciting new feature Apple Music Sing, which enables users to sing along to their favorite songs with customizable vocals and real-time lyrics, was unveiled by Apple today. Apple Music Sing provides multiple lyric views to let users take the lead, sing duets, sing backing, and more within Apple Music’s unmatched lyrics experience. Apple Music Sing makes it enjoyable and straightforward for everyone to take part, when and wherever they choose, with a constantly expanding collection that includes tens of millions of the most singable music in the world.

The new Apple TV 4K, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Music Sing will all be available to Apple Music users later this month.

“Apple Music’s lyrics experience is consistently one of the most popular features on our service,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats. “We already know our users all over the world love to follow along to their favorite songs, so we wanted to evolve this offering even further to enable even more engagement around music through singing. It’s really a lot of fun, our customers are going to love it.”

Included in Apple Sing are:

  • Adjustable vocals: Users now have control over a song’s vocal levels. They can sing with the original artist’s vocals, take the lead, or mix it up on millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog.
  • Real-time lyrics: Users can sing along to their favorite songs with animated lyrics that dance to the rhythm of the vocals.
  • Background vocals: Vocal lines sung simultaneously can animate independently from the main vocals to make it easier for users to follow.
  • Duet view: Multiple vocalists show on opposite sides of the screen to make duets or multi-singer tracks easy to sing along to.

A collection of over 50 specially curated companion playlists for Apple Music Sing will also be released, encompassing all iconic songs, duets, choruses, and anthems that have inspired people to sing worldwide.

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