We tend to ascribe motives, decisions and actions to the frontman rather than the network behind them. Musk in this case, Trump in others, Reagan back in the day. These are the public faces. Twitter was purchased 2 years ago for the exact uses we've seen - propaganda and misdirection, and will be exercised heavily in garnering support/misdirection for what will otherwise be unpopular decisions that the Musk/Thiel et al, administration will make.
There were ~100 other investors in a Twitter deal that makes no sense financially and includes foreign influence. Musk then systematically created an image for himself on Twitter that aligned with the populist knuckleheads (as Trump has been doing), preparing them to receive later comms from him in a positive light, regardless of how destructive they may seem.
But the "why" is more nuanced and interesting. US debt is important in controlling inflation, but these moves are not that straightforward. The US is in decline, the dollar as the world's reserve currency is based largely on oil transactions, but the supremacy is eroding and these billionaires cannot afford a full blown economic collapse -- unless they cause and control it in order profit from the outcome. In a collapse, there would be a significant redistribution of wealth and power, and the machinations are to position the existing wealth/power to be in place to re-collect that distribution. Musk tweeted New World Order after the election, which indicates ideological roots in economic cycle theories, with world order being the end of the long cycle, and change of reserve currency. Which Trump has already hinted at by saying he will replace some US reserves with crypto - the next layer of global monetary abstraction after Bretton Woods and Nixon severing the gold/dollar tether.
It's nuanced. Wealthy/powerful want to retain their standing, and maybe along the way hurt a lot of people, but keep far more people from being hurt by paradoxically accelerating a catastrophe they fear will happen in order to be in position to make the key decisions they think need to be made. Hero/villain will be determined independently in a multitude of social media echo chambers.
A lot of people will be fired, there will be a lot of opportunity for outrage, but we shouldn't let those completely distract from the long con playing out. That outrage is intentional misdirection.
