Interviewed at the Ted2022 conference, broadcast live from Vancouver (Canada), he assured that he was not looking to “make money”.
“I just have a strong hunch that having a public, broadly inclusive platform that you can trust is extremely important for the future of civilization,” he added in this first speech since. the announcement that is shaking the tech world.
The richest man in the world uses Twitter on a daily basis to address his approximately 80 million subscribers, but he is also very critical of the network, which he believes does not sufficiently respect freedom of expression.
He offered to buy the platform for 54.20 dollars per share, in cash, specifying that it was “his best offer and his final offer”, in a letter sent Wednesday to the American stock market policeman, the SEC.
This price would value Twitter at $43.4 billion, up from about $36 billion today.
“You don’t necessarily want to pay $40 billion and something in cash?” Chris Anderson, the conference manager, asked Elon Musk.
“Technically, I can afford it,” replied the South African-born entrepreneur. Pressed on the question of funding, he repeated that he had “sufficient funds” and a plan B if the Twitter Board of Directors refuses his offer, without giving further details.
But he explained that he hoped above all to rally to his project as many existing shareholders as possible.
One of them has already reacted: Saudi Prince Al-Walid bin Talal said on Twitter that he “rejected” his offer.
“I don’t think Elon Musk’s proposal ($54.20) comes anywhere close to Twitter’s intrinsic value, given its growth prospects. I’m one of the largest shareholders and the oldest of Twitter, and Kingdom Holding Company (his investment fund, editor’s note) and myself reject this offer”, he wrote on the network Thursday.