Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and currently the world’s wealthiest man, put forward an extraordinary offer Thursday to buy all of Twitter, the latest phase in his apparent effort to restore the social media platform as a bastion of free speech.
Liberals and leftists who approve of Twitter’s current censorious regime freaked out and some shareholders expressed opposition to a Musk takeover, but the billionaire hinted at a “plan B” if Twitter’s board of directors refuse the offer, the Daily Caller reported.
That revelation came during a TED 2022 discussion with Chris Anderson, during which Musk reiterated his commitment to the principle of free speech and his ideas for improving Twitter in that regard.
“There is” a plan B, but Musk won’t elaborate, yet
At one point in the conversation, Anderson referenced the resistance to Musk’s offer, which he does not intend to increase, and asked if there was a “plan B” in place for such a scenario.
“There is,” Musk said to great laughter after a moment of silence. Pressed to elaborate on what that plan might entail, and after another pause, Musk replied, “For another time, I think.”
.@elonmusk Asked Whether There Is A Plan B If Twitter Does Not Accept His Offer
“There is.”pic.twitter.com/hetXpBsH5X
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) April 14, 2022
“Economics” is not a factor in the effort to buy Twitter
The Daily Caller noted that Musk on Thursday proposed an offer to buy out all of the shares of Twitter that would amount to approximately $43 billion, but the billionaire acknowledged upfront during the TED talk his uncertainty that he would be able to acquire the entirety of the social media platform, and further noted that he didn’t necessarily want to buy out every shareholder.
However, according to Breitbart, Musk then said, “My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization,” and quickly added, “I don’t care about the economics at all.”
.@elonmusk Today During Ted2022 On Why He Is Offering to Buy Twitter
“My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted & broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
“I don’t care about the economics at all.” pic.twitter.com/AxYsHEPY68
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) April 14, 2022
“If in doubt,” Musk would “let the tweet exist”
Musk also expounded further on his view of the importance of free speech and how that would apply if he were in charge of Twitter, and said, “If in doubt, let the speech — let it exist … If it’s a grey area, I would say, let the tweet exist.”
He acknowledged not having “all of the answers” for dealing with controversial cases, but said, “I do think that we want to be very reluctant to delete things, and just be very cautious with permanent bans. Timeouts, I think, are better than permanent bans.”
“A good sign as to whether there’s free speech is, is someone you don’t like allowed to say something you don’t like? If that is the case then we have free speech,” Musk said. “And it’s damn annoying, when someone you don’t like says something you don’t like. That is a sign of a healthy, functioning, free speech situation.”