Putin is the richest man in the world, he has to find ways to spend his ill gotten loot. The problem Elon faces now, he has no liquidity and The Vulture circles.
I think this also shows that Musk might not be the business genius he has painstakingly painted himself to be. What was his expectations for Twitter when he originally decided to buy it, before the share price tanked? He paid lip-service to being a "free-speech absolutist," but he's quickly finding out that corporations that pay for advertising don't want to be next to posts calling for the gassing of jews or dropping n-bombs. The subscription fee....is probably not a horrible idea on some levels. I mean, but the verified part of it is very important. I mean, you wouldn't want people to impersonate a brand or celebrity to groom kids or what not, which is why the blue checkmark first appeared.
If anything, Elon walked into this shit show. Hell, he might surprise us and create his fabled "X" app that does what he says it will. It might actually be worth pay the $8/month. Or, he'll alienate users and advertisers by allowing it to slip into chaos....and that will be a $45B write-off....