当地时间10月26日,美国亿万富翁、特斯拉CEO埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk),抱着一个白色陶制洗手水槽,笑容灿烂地走进了推特公司的旧金山总部。
A bizarre video Elon Musk shared of himself walking into Twitter headquarters holding a bathroom sink Wednesday quickly became the most popular tweet of the past week and one of the most popular of the past month, according to social media tracking firm NewsWhip, just ahead of the billionaire's expected takeover of the company.
根据社交媒体追踪公司NewsWhip的数据,埃隆·马斯克周三分享的一段自己抱着浴室水槽走进推特总部的怪异视频,迅速成为过去一周最受火的推文,也是过去一个月最火的推文之一。这一视频就拍摄于这位亿万富翁预计接管该公司之前。
The 9-second video has been viewed nearly 30 million times in the 23 hours since it was posted, and the tweet has attracted more than 1 million likes and over 178,000 retweets.
这段9秒的视频在发布后的23小时内被浏览了近3000万次,推文吸引了超过100万个赞和超过17.8万次转发。
其实马斯克是在玩梗,sink有“水池,水槽”的意思,“Let that sink in”字面意义,除了“让水槽进去”,还有“让它沉下去”的意思,同时它也是一种英文口语表达惯用语,意为“好好考虑”,有点像中文中的“你细品。”
Musk also changed his Twitter bio to "Chief Twit" and marked his location as "Twitter HQ" on Wednesday, in another strong indication his $44 billion deal to buy the tech giant will go through Friday as planned.
马斯克还在周三将他的推特简历改为 “推特老板”,并将他的位置标记为“推特总部”,这再次有力地表明他以440亿美元收购这家科技巨头的交易将按计划在周五进行。
Musk is slated to address Twitter employees Friday, according to Bloomberg. He also retweeted a photo from his biographer, Walter Isaacson, Thursday showing him speaking to a group at "Twitter headquarters' coffee bar."
据彭博社报道,马斯克定于周五对推特员工发表讲话。他还在推特上转发了他的传记作者沃尔特·艾萨克森(Walter Isaacson)的一张照片,照片显示他在 “推特总部的咖啡吧”向一群人讲话。
先来简单复盘一下马斯克和推特之间的推拉大战,这可比某些商战片都精彩。
In April, Twitter accepted Musk’sproposal to buy the social media service and take it private. However, Musk soon began sowing doubt about his intentions to follow through with the agreement, alleging that the company failed to adequately disclose the number of spam and fake accounts on the service.
今年4月,推特公司接受了马斯克的提议,收购该社交媒体服务并将其私有化。然而,马斯克的表现让人产生出他不想履约的怀疑,他称该公司未能充分披露该服务上的垃圾邮件和虚假账户的数量。
When Musk said he was terminating the deal, Twittersued the billionaire, alleging he “refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.”
当马斯克说他要终止协议时,推特起诉了这位亿万富翁,称他 "拒绝履行对推特及其股东的义务,因为他签署的协议不再符合他的个人利益。"
In the ensuing months, Twitter and Musk would trade barbs via their attorneys as the two parties were slated to head to Delaware’s Court of Chancery todetermine the fate of the company and whether it would end up in the Tesla chief’s hands.
在随后的几个月里,推特和马斯克将通过他们的律师进行交锋,因为双方将前往特拉华州的大法官法庭,以决定公司的命运,以及它是否会最终落入特斯拉总裁的手中。
Earlier in October, Musk had a change of heart and said he wanted to pursue his acquisition of Twitter at the original price of $54.20 a share if the social messaging service dropped its litigation. Distrustful of Musk’s motivations, Twitter’s lawyers said that the Tesla CEO’s “proposal is an invitation to further mischief and delay.”
10月早些时候,马斯克改变了主意,表示如果社交信息服务机构放弃诉讼,他想以每股54.20美元的原价收购推特。由于不信任马斯克的动机,推特的律师表示,这位特斯拉CEO的 "提议不过是进一步捣乱和拖延"。
A Delaware Chancery Court judge eventually ruled that Musk had until Oct. 28 to cement the Twitter deal or head to trial.
特拉华州大法官最终裁定,马斯克必须在10月28日之前完成推特的交易,否则将进入审判阶段。
都说新官上任三把火,马斯克掌管推特后会带来哪些变化呢?首先就是解雇了“他认为误导过他”的推特高管。
Musk terminated Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter.
据熟悉此事的人士称,马斯克解雇了推特首席执行官阿格拉瓦、首席财务官塞加尔以及法律事务和政策主管加德。
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal
He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the social media platform.
他曾指责他们在社交媒体平台上的虚假账户数量上误导了他和推特的投资者。
Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter's San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out, the sources added.
消息人士补充说,交易结束时,阿格拉瓦和塞加尔在推特的旧金山总部,并被护送出去。
此前一直有传言他将对推特进行75%的大裁员,这让推特大约7500名员工害怕极了,要知道sink还有另一种意思,那就是“沉没”。
The Washington Post reported the billionaire plans to eliminate around 75% of Twitter's roughly 7,500-person workforce, which appears to build on downsizing plans Twitter already had in place (Musk denied those reports while meeting with Twitter staff this week, according to Bloomberg).
《华盛顿邮报》报道说,这位亿万富翁计划在推特大约7500名员工中裁掉75%,这似乎是在推特已经实施的裁员计划基础上进行的(据彭博社报道,马斯克本周在与推特员工会面时否认了这些报道)。
He also tried to calm fears among employees that major layoffs are coming and assured advertisers that his past criticism of Twitter's content moderation rules would not harm its appeal.
他还试图平息员工对即将进行大规模裁员的担忧,并向广告商保证,他过去对推特内容审核规则的批评不会损害其吸引力。
"Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" Musk said in an openletter to advertisers on Thursday.
"推特显然不能成为一个自由放任的地狱,在那里可以说任何话而不承担任何后果!" 马斯克周四在一封致广告商的公开信中说。
Musk has indicated he sees Twitter as a foundation for creating a "super app" that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and ride-hailing.
马斯克表示,他认为推特是创建一个 "超级应用 "的基础,能够提供从汇款到购物、打车的所有服务。
He also said on Thursday he did not buy Twitter to make more money but "to try to help humanity, whom I love."
他还在周四表示,他收购推特不是为了赚更多的钱,而是 "试图帮助他热爱的人类"。
headquarter /ˌhedˈkwɔːtə(r)/ n.总部,v. 将(组织的)总部设在某地;设立总部
terminate /ˈtɜːmɪneɪt/ v. (使)结束,(使)终止
Chief Financial Officer 首席财务官
downsize /ˈdaʊnsaɪz/ v. 裁员,缩小规模
layoff /ˈleɪɒf/ n. 解雇,下岗
英文部分素材来源Forbes:Video Of Elon Musk Carrying Sink Through Twitter Headquarters Is This Week’s Most Popular Tweet