Hardcover

Before he conceived of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk flexed his control and influence during his unprecedented, $44 billion buyout of Twitter. This is the stunning true story of how Musk managed to upend the worlds largest free speech platform through sheer, unilateral forceand what that means for the protection of power in the modern age.

When Elon wrested the app formerly known as Twitter out of the hands of its investors in 2023, his goals for what was previously known as the worlds digital town square were rooted in his fervent belief in the necessity of making Twitter friendlier to free speech. I didnt do it to make more money, Musk insisted. I did it to try and help humanity, whom I love.

Extremely Hardcore is the true story of how Musk reshaped the worlds online public square into his own personal megaphone in an unprecedented, unsolicited, and unilateral buyout. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews with more than sixty employees and thousands of pages of internal documents and Slack messages, WIRED journalist Zo Schiffer delivers the singularly gripping, blow-by-blow saga of the infighting, mass layoffs, and culture wars that followed.

More than just a corporate saga, Extremely Hardcore is a high-stakes story of power, obsession, and egoan unfiltered look at what happens when the worlds richest man buys one of its most influential platforms and bends it to his will.