It’s only been three weeks
Elon Musk has owned Twitter for only three weeks and his new staff are already calling him names behind his back.
It looks like a new job title is not the only thing Musk gained when walking into the Twitter HQ as the new owner.
The billionaire is now being referred to as “Elmo” inside the company, according to two people familiar with the matter, reports Business Insider.
The publication claims the name began as a joke because of how close Elon’s name is to the kind and curious “Sesame Street” character. They also noted that it’s an ironic thanks to Musk’s temperamental personality.
However, use of Elmo to discuss Musk has become more commonplace in recent weeks, as Musk has turned Twitter into “a dictatorship,” one former employee said.
There are potentially fewer repercussions from criticising your billionaire boss if you can argue you were discussing a puppet, not the CEO. Smart.
However, the name has slightly defeated its purpose and has found its way on Twitter. Although, discussing Musk under his new nickname keeps the CEO from trending and it keeps critics out of his mentions. Musk frequently responds to his mentions on Twitter and engages with critics, often leading to his supporters and bots to inundate such threads.
But not everyone is a fan.
“Stop calling him Elmo,” one Twitter user wrote yesterday. “It’s screwing up my Muppet feed.”
It’s unclear exactly where or when the nickname started. A Reddit post from 2018 notes that “Elmo Sunk” is an anagram for Elon Musk, but it gained little traction at the time.
Musk is yet to ban Elmo from Twitter.
He has however been extremely busy, claiming to sleeping in the Twitter HQ while working day and night.
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- 3,700 Twitter employees have been fired via email following Elon Musk’s takeover
