Elon Musk rejects billionaire Mark Cuban’s advice on Twitter subscription plan

‘$8 for all,’ Musk replied to Shark Tank billionaire’s suggestion to offer Twitter Blue free for ‘accurate’ users

Elon Musk has rejected a suggestion from fellow billionaire Mark Cuban to offer free Twitter subscriptions to some users.

Mr Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, ventured that an $8 verification fee could be waived for the “most accurate” users of a new Notes feature, that allows people to flag and respond to inaccurate posts on the platform.

“You might consider proactively offering your $8 verification program for free to those you deem the most accurate Notes contributors. Won’t be easy to confirm accuracy. But if AI can try to model out bias, maybe it can model in accuracy?”

Mr Musk knocked back the idea outright, replying: “$8 for all.”

“Your business. Your decision,” Mr Cuban responded.

$8 for all

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022

Mr Cuban has been an enthusiastic supporter of Musk’s $44bn acquisition of Twitter.

Amid widespread criticism that the Tesla CEO had “grossly overpaid” for the platform, the Shark Tank venture capitalist investor predicted Mr Musk would eventually “make a killing” from the deal. 

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been an enthustastic backer of Musk’s Twitter acquisition (Getty Images)

I'm looking forward to the @elonmusk era on Twitter. He is a ready,fire,aim entrepreneur who will truly enjoy fucking with everyone who has an expectation of him. The only expectation you can have of @elonmusk is that he will flex his independence to show everyone who's in charge

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) October 28, 2022

In a separate post, Mr Cuban wrote: “(Musk) is a ready, fire, aim entrepreneur who will truly enjoy f***ing with everyone who has an expectation of him.”

Mr Musk has forged ahead with plans to charge $8 for verified accounts since completing the takeover late last month, despite major pushback from many high-profile Twitter users.

The Twitter Blue subscription service would provide paid users with a blue tick mark, longer videos and fewer adverts.

Amid criticisms it could be used to sew misinformation during the midterm elections, Twitter is reportedly delaying the launch of the service until after Tuesday’s vote.

On Monday, Mr Musk urged “independent-minded” voters among his 114 million followers to vote Republican to “curb the excesses of both parties”.