Does Elon Musk Owns Signal? This has become a topic of discussion since the entrepreneur and tech industry leader Elon Musk tweeted out a tweet saying “Use Signal”. Although the tweet was not concerning his ownership of the messaging application Signal, it did spur up interest from tech enthusiasts and industry pundits in knowing more about Elon Musk’s if any part ownership in the company.
Signal, founded in 2014, is an independent private messaging and video calling application for both Android and iOS that is owned by non-profit organization Signal Foundation. The application is known for its privacy and end-to-end encryption protocol and was even used by the late Edward Snowden in order to send secure messages. Signal offers free use of their service which removes any conflict of interest for Musk.
However, Elon Musk’s team has sold and bought equity stakes in various tech companies, so it would not be very farfetched to believe that Musk could own Signal either. Exploring the answer to this question needs one to go in depth and back the observations with data and research.
In talks with various tech industry experts, the consensus appears to be that Elon Musk does not own any stock in Signal. This statement is supported by the fact that Signal’s parent company is a not-for-profit organization which means that nobody owns shares in that company.
However it has been hypothesized that Elon Musk was attempting to prop up Signal’s brand image by promoting their service on his Twitter account, making reference to the “encrypted messaging app” that the tweet was endorsing. This could be considered a strategic move where an endorsement from a tech innovator like Musk, who is estimated to be worth over $140 billion, could help expand Signal’s reach.
This is elaborated upon by Hoggie Wilson, the head of technology research at SmartBeings who says “Elon Musk has had a history of wading in to aid struggling tech firms such as sending Tesla planes to help the ailing company NIO in 2019. In the case of Signal, although his team has not yet put any money into the company, he could be striving for an endorsement which would boost the company’s popularity and usage.”
An analysis of the overall financial condition of Signal also supports the fact that a potential investment from Musk’s team could not display any conflict of interest. As Signal is a non-profit organization, any influx of revenue from an investor would not benefit any of the four co-founders. These co-founders, who are the current owners of Signal, have also worked for Open Whisper Systems, a popular open-source and encrypted messaging application, and have transferred some of their knowledge and expertise to Signal.
Data Streams
One of the aspects of the success of Signal that has been talked about throughout the technology industry is the focus under Signal on the legitimacy of the data streams that are used by its customers. Signal sets itself apart from its competitors by relying on the trust and confidence of its customers when they are using the application. It has been said that the practices used by Signal, such as utilizing open source code, anonymized data and stringent protocol methods, have been put in place in order to meet the expectations of its users when it comes to protecting their data.
The data streams used by Signal are also maintained in a proprietary way. A cryptographer from Cambridge University, Sergey Zverkov elaborated on this point by saying that the company “puts a lot of effort into the data analysis part of the product and ensures that the data used by its users is secure and encrypted. The encryption protocol used by Signal makes it extremely difficult for any would-be bad actors to break the codes and access the data streams.”
This focus on data security is also beneficial to the users of the application who rely on Signal as a method of exchanging messages with their friends and colleagues. This focus on data security has led some within the technology industry to believe that Elon Musk would not want to be involved in owning Signals due to the confusion that might arise amongst its users.
Media Promotion
Apart from the encryption protocol used by Signal to secure its users data streams, the company also focuses on utilizing its media presence to promote its product. This method of promotion has been adopted by both Signal and its rival applications as a way of reaching potential users. Signal has been able to capitalize on this strategy by acquiring a PR firm and also by partnering with tech outlets in order to gain coverage for their products.
This has been seen as beneficial for the company due to the fact that Signal does not have to put a lot of effort into marketing the product. Instead, the company could rely on the efforts of its PR agency and the media outlets to spread information about their product and its features.
Despite the lack of an ownership from Elon Musk, his tweet about Signal can still be believed to be strategic in nature. Expert opinion also reflects on this as internet law consultant Joe White states “Due to the fact that Elon Musk has become a figurehead for technology innovation, he can make decisions and statements regarding companies and products that are in support of them. So, even though Musk does not own Signal, he could still be utilizing his attention in order to help the company gain secure users and brand presence”.
Financial Performance
Yet, even with the previous efforts undertaken by Signal. the company’s financial performance and sustainability in the long term has been questioned. This could be a factor that could be holding another potential investor like Elon Musk back from investing in Signal, as SmartBeings’ Wilson explains: “The profitability of a company is one of the most crucial aspects that has to be taken into account. As Signal is a non-profit application, it would be foolish for a potential investor to put money into a venture in which there is no financial benefit from the investor’s standpoint”.
The application draws its revenue from donations. Over the last few years, Signal has been able to raise more than $50 million from its investors. This money is being donated to the organization to help fund its operations, as well as its researchers who help improve the product and its features. However, since Signal is not a publicly traded company and is not turning a profit, this may also be a factor that is inhibiting an investor such as Musk from investing in the company.
Open Source Code
Apart from having a secure messaging protocol, Signal also provides its users with the ability to access the platform’s source code. This is beneficial for both users and developers as this allows them to inspect the code and make any changes that they may deem necessary. It also allows Signal to gain insight into the development of the product, as well as to recognize any potential security flaws or weak points in the code and address them.
This allows Signal to continuously improve the product and provide its users with the most secure and encrypted messaging possible. It also allows users to feel safe in the knowledge that the code they use on the platform is not just being taken out of the box and used without oversight.
However, again this could be seen as a possible reason why an investor such as Elon Musk may not be interested in investing in Signal, as Joe White explains “Due to the fact that Signal is open source and its code is available to anyone and everyone, it can be difficult for investors such as Elon Musk to assess the true potential of the product. This would go against his usual modus operandi of investing in tech companies, as he is known for performing impeccable due diligence before investing in a company.”
Business Model
Signal’s business model also plays a role in its inability to draw in potential investors. As mentioned before, Signal is a non-profit organization which means it relies on donations in order to fund its operations. This means that Signal is not able to generate any revenue from its users, as its sole source of income comes from donations and investments.
This model is also different when compared to its competitors who turn profits. Last year, WhatsApp, Signal’s most popular competitor had around $20 billion in revenue. This difference could be seen as another reason why investors might not be interested in Signal, as they are unlikely to see any financial gain from investing in the company.
Charlie Gordon, a security analyst at Synopsys, provides perspective on this stating “Signal is a non-profit enterprise which means the investors have to leave personal gains and look into Signal’s social standing and purposes for investing. This could be a hard ask for some investors, especially for ones such as Elon Musk who is focused solely on business gains and profits”.
Future Outlook
Despite all the attention and discussion surrounding Signal, it is still not known whether Elon Musk will decide to invest in the company. However, the overall speculative consensus appears to be that the billionaire entrepreneur will eventually make a decision to not invest in the company. This could be due to the fact that Signal does not offer any sort of financial gain from investing in the company and that the data streams and encryption protocol used by Signal is already secure enough.
However, Signal remains a popular application and if the company is able to make any significant improvements over its current state, it is likely that the interest from potential investors will increase. If Signal does gain a significant financial investor, it is likely that Elon Musk will not be in the forefront of those investors due to his lack of involvement in the company.
