Bill Gates expressed uncertainty about Twitter’s future under Elon Musk’s leadership.
“He actually could make it worse,” Gates spoke at an event hosted by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. “That’s not his track record. I mean his track record with Tesla and SpaceX is pretty mind-blowing at putting together a great team of engineers and taking the people who work in those fields in a less bold way and really showing them up. I kind of doubt that will happen this time, but we should have an open mind and never underestimate Elon.”
Twitter accepted Musk’s $44 billion purchase offer last week. The transaction is likely to completion within a year, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
“If all you need is money and hiring great engineers, he’s probably as good a person as any,” Gates added.
Despite this, the Microsoft founder expressed concern about Musk’s handling of misinformation on the social media site, especially given Musk’s emphasis on supporting “free speech.” Musk stated last week that he considers free speech as “that which matches the law.”
According to experts, Musk’s attitude to free speech could lead to the propagation of disinformation and hate speech on Twitter.
Musk mocked Gates in April by posting a meme of the Microsoft founder alongside a pregnant man emoji. The meme was created in reaction to a series of screenshots of texts purportedly exchanged between the two billionaires. In the exchanges, Musk confirmed that Gates was shorting Tesla shares and declined Gates’ offer to collaborate on a philanthropic project. Musk later confirmed the authenticity of the screenshots on Twitter.
During an interview with The Journal, Gates addressed the exchange, saying he was unconcerned with Musk’s apparent jab on Twitter.
“I do not think that shorting Tesla is an indication of your seriousness about climate change,” Gates stated. “I applaud Tesla’s role in battling climate change. I have nothing but positive things to say about Elon. If he makes Twitter worse, I will speak out about that.”
