Things get twisty after Jeff Bezos responds to Elon Musk asking if Twitter HQ should be converted to homeless shelter

Since becoming Twitter’s newest, biggest shareholder, Elon Musk has been busy polling and trolling on Twitter, and his latest poll caught the attention of fellow billionaire, Jeff Bezos.

“Convert Twitter SF HQ to homeless shelter since no one shows up anyway,” Musk asked the Twitter-verse on Saturday.

 

As the nation has seen through an endless stream of viral videos, the homeless situation in San Francisco has been at a “crisis” level for far too long.

https://twitter.com/RickS_Patriots/status/1279029423619149824?s=20&t=AApcIa5R29I2wSG6lwn9mg

 

So, it’s not surprising that Musk’s suggestion got an enormous response, but none caused as much of a flurry as the one from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

“Or do portion,” Bezos tweeted back with a link to Amazon’s 8-floor family homeless shelter, which occupies part of Amazon’s Seattle, Washington headquarters.

“Worked out great and makes it easy for employees who want to volunteer,” Bezos added, to which Musk responded, “Great idea.”

Mary’s Place Family Center in The Regrade celebrated its second anniversary in early March and provides “shelter and support” for homeless families.

The center can shelter up to 200 people per night and provides families in need with food, an onsite health clinic, computer labs, and even pro-bono legal clinics.

In an Instagram post commemorating the shelter’s opening, Bezos wrote, “This shelter spans eight floors — including a health clinic and critical tools to help families in need get back on their feet. Thanks to Mary’s Place for their partnership in bringing this creative solution to life.”

Mary’s Place Executive Director Mary Hartman called the center, which opened amidst the initial chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, a “saving grace,” Fox News reports.

“This new shelter, opening when it did, has been our saving grace,” Harman wrote at the time. “It was our Amazon family, that recognized what we needed before we ever realized it, and this space ensures we don’t have to return families to homelessness during this unprecedented and trying time.”

On Twitter, the idea was a home run, with 91.5% of poll respondents voting, “yes” to Musk’s suggestion.

Conservative hero and Voter Registration Crusader Scott Pressler was first in line to volunteer to recruit volunteers.

 

But not everyone was willing to pat Bezos on the back, choosing instead to call out what they see as his hypocrisy.

And the response to that was priceless:

Keith Malinak, co-host of Blaze Media’s “Pat Gray Unleashed,” seemed ready to pop some popcorn.

 

And he wasn’t alone…

And then something even more interesting happened: Musk deleted his tweet.

And not just this one, but a number of Twitter-trolling tweets.

What followed was a surprising announcement: Despite his commanding 9.2% stake in Twitter, Elon Musk will not be joining Twitter’s board of directors after all.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal shared a memo he sent to company employees, which reads; “Team, Elon Musk has decided not to join our board.”

In the memo, Agrawal states that Musk’s appointment to the board was contingent upon a background check and included “risks,” adding that, as a fiduciary of the company, Musk would be required to “act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders.”

And that presumably means no crazy tweets and no Twitter HQ polls.

“I believe this is for the best,” Agrawal said of Musk’s decision.

Melissa Fine

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