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Clash of the billionaires: Mark Cuban calls Elon Musk's $8 Twitter verification fee 'huge mistake'

Despite paying for a Twitter Blue subscription, billionaire investor Mark Cuban claims to be losing hundreds of Twitter followers per day

DALLAS, TEXAS: Concerned about Twitter's new subscription policy, Mark Cuban is enraged. Following Twitter's decision to remove the blue checkmarks from countless previously verified accounts, the multibillionaire investor and owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks took to Twitter to vent his frustrations and offer solutions.

Mark is one of the most followed investors and entrepreneurs on Twitter, with close to 9 million followers. The businessman, entrepreneur, and NBA franchise owner is known to express his thoughts on a variety of issues, and he recently revealed his thoughts on Elon Musk. Twitter recently removed heritage-verified blue checkmarks from accounts on the social media network, provoking outrage from users and a few celebrities. Mark took to Twitter to explain why the legacy blue checkmarks were removed and what may have been done differently.

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Mark asked Elon for help after losing followers on Twitter

Despite paying for a Twitter Blue subscription, billionaire investor Mark is losing hundreds of Twitter followers per day. The 'Shark Tank' star said in a post intended at Twitter CEO that he was losing up to 1,000 followers every day. "@elonmusk, question for you. I'm losing about 500 to 1k users a day. To counter this I went Blue² thinking it gave me some preference and would help retain or grow users. Any suggestions?" He posted this in a tweet that has received 12.4 million views. Mark, who joined Twitter in September 2008, still has a sizable 8.8 million followers.

Mark says he could get people to pay $100 for Twitter’s blue tick

Elon did a poor job of having celebs pay for the tick mark according to Mark. He even believes his billionaire and entrepreneur peer made a "big mistake," comparing it to the Coca-Cola marketing disaster of April 1985, when the soft drink manufacturer took one of the biggest risks in its history by announcing a change in the formula of its most popular soft drink. Coca-Cola had released a reformulated Coca-Cola known as "New Coke." It was the first time in 99 years that the company changed its formula in order to boost the Coca-Cola brand. Consumers in the United States reacted strongly. It was a true firestorm that raged for 79 days. In July 1985, Coca-Cola was obliged to return to the original formula or Classic Coca-Cola.

"There were 100 ways @elonmusk could have asked legacy checks for $100. Egalitarianism was the worst of all of them," Mark said on April 21. "It's Diet Coke level." He then corrected himself, saying, "*New Coke lol."

Mark went on to say that Elon's method is a "huge mistake," since it implies that the tech billionaire owns the likeness of the celebrities who accept payment to preserve their blue tick mark. "This is why the approach to legacy checks is a huge mistake. You are telling the biggest celebs they are not in charge of their likeness, @elonmusk is. This also applies to anyone that makes a living off their personal brand. As @elonmusk goes, so goes their brand," Mark lambasted.

There were various methods for him to convince celebrities to pay, but they would have required more subtlety. He then presented instances of how Elon may have approached the situation. "Hey Mark, we saw that there is a new season of Shark Tank starting. Can you let the producers know that we have a special $1k program where we do the same IP verification and protection and will also include $10k of promoted tweets for the show. Please have them DM me here," Elon could have written according to Mark.

According to Mark, another example of what Elon might have done was, "Hey Mark, we know people try to impersonate you or misuse your image. Our AI will monitor accounts to protect your brand. $100 per year. Sold. Saves me hassle and legal fees," Mark wrote.

He listed at least five strategies Elon might have used to convince celebrities and obstinate businesses to subscribe to Blue. He did, however, conclude that the departure of many celebrities from Twitter will not result in the platform's demise. "That said, Twitter still is the best game in town for so many different types of communications. [Its] scale and type of interaction is unique and right now irreplaceable. If you look at Twitter on a 20 yr horizon, the past 6 [months] are just the preseason and it's not hard to recapture what was," Mark concluded.

Elon starts 'save-a-celebrity fund' 

Elon chose to redesign Twitter in order to generate additional money. One of his most important moves was to include the blue mark, which validates an account's identification, into Blue, the platform's subscription service. Blue costs $7.99 per month for individuals and $1,000 per month for businesses.

Prior to Elon's takeover of Twitter, the tick mark was a free honor bestowed upon celebrities, journalists, influencers, politicians, and well-known organizations that utilized it to promote themselves. The public may trust messages posted by accounts marked with a tick symbol. Elon thought that by making it a premium feature, everyone would have to pay or lose it.

Elon began removing the blue badge from people who had not yet paid their membership on April 20 after allowing everyone many months to comply with the new regulation. From the celebrities who were affected, this action elicited mockery, jokes, and harsh criticism. Elon replied by stating, strangely, that he was establishing a fund to assist celebrities who were unable to pay. "We’ve started a 'save-a-celebrity fund' to pay their $8. We take this matter very seriously," the billionaire said on April 21. The techie monarch stands firm in his choice, believing that it is an issue of equality. Elon, who appreciates maintaining a personal relationship with his millions of admirers, believes that celebrities should not be given preferential treatment.

Elon-led Twitter gives blue tick back to celebs

Elon, who earlier thought that the legacy verification checkmark was a sign of 'elitism' and that it needed to be removed in order to encourage free speech and equality, appears to have changed his mind. The social networking site appears to have reinstated the verification badges of numerous celebrities, even some who are no longer alive.

William Shatner, Stephen King, and LeBron James were the catalysts. Despite the fact that their accounts indicated that they had subscribed to Twitter Blue, the three of them declined to pay the $8 to join it. Stephen King even mentioned it on Twitter.

Elon subsequently disclosed in a tweet that he had personally paid for select celebrities and prominent people's Twitter Blue subscriptions. However, on April 23, it was noticed that the verification badges began to appear on the profiles of other celebrities as well. This included public figures ranging from comedian John Oliver to economist Paul Krugman to model-turned-actress Sofia Vergara. All of these profiles reveal that they paid $8 to subscribe to Twitter Blue and had their phone number confirmed. Many of them took to Twitter to refute this claim.

Strange still, the verified badge reappears on the profiles of long-dead public figures. This includes journalist Jamal Khashoggi's Twitter account, actor Chadwick Boseman, singer Michael Jackson, comedian Norm Macdonald, basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, and others. Despite the fact that many of these accounts have been dormant for years, their profiles still display that they have subscribed to Twitter Blue and confirmed their phone number. It appears that Elon's Twitter has returned the verification badge for all users with over 1 million followers on the network. Several Twitter users remarked on the irony of the situation.