As the TED2022 conference is going on, after various other activities and speeches, the host showcases his previous interaction with Elon Musk. After which, Elon Musk comes to the stage and the conversation starts with the most recent news about Musk’s offer to purchase 100% of Twitter. Many more statements, relevant to Twitter, Tesla, and others are expected to be revealed today.
A month ago, it was known that Musk was to talk at the TED conference. It is an interview-style instead of a keynote. Little did people expect back then that the talk would be about Elon Musk and Twitter. Watch live on YouTube at the above link.
EXCLUSIVE: Elon Musk is speaking live at #TED2022 at 9:45AM PT— and you’re invited! Join the last session of this year’s TED Conference streaming, potentially featuring another surprise guest. Anything can happen! Tune in: https://t.co/eOuTfEqRJG
— TED Talks (@TEDTalks) April 14, 2022
The bombshell
Just some hours ago, Musk revealed that he proposed to buy 100% of Twitter, said that Twitter has potential and that he would make things happen. The host talks about various things about the changes that could be bought to Twitter, and how they could possibly be handled. Like bringing an edit button to tweets would mean a possibility of manipulation with the retweets and likes that are already hit. Musk states that this will be looked at, and monitored. He lastly adds that he is open to some suggestions.
I made an offer https://t.co/VvreuPMeLu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
Later after talking about Tesla’s growth, they come back to Musk’s decision on taking over Twitter. The host asks, “If the offer is rejected, do you have a plan B?”. To everyone’s surprise, Musk states that he does have a plan B. Then the conversation gets back to talking about creating Tesla.
Asking questions
Chris Anderson has been interviewing Elon Musk. On April 12th he tweeted that he was going to interview Musk. He asked everyone what questions to ask. Once we watch the video now, it is clear how accurate the questions are, especially about the challenges Musk would face or has already faced. Model 3 manufacturing and making challenges are already well known to everybody. Anderson brings it up and asks about the making of Model 3.
I get to interview @elonmusk on Thursday here at TED. What questions would YOU ask him? ? ???
— Chris Anderson (@TEDchris) April 12, 2022
Buying Twitter is not for economic reasons
Musk insisted that buying Twitter wasn’t an economic move for him.“This is not a way to sort of make money. My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important,” he says. “So the future of civilization, but you don’t care about the economics at all.”
Musk had previously explained his reasoning for the takeover attempt in a letter sent to Twitter chairman Bret Taylor this morning, saying that the platform isn’t living up to its potential as a bastion of free speech. “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” he says in the letter. “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”
It’s not clear yet whether Twitter’s board will approve Musk’s offer. The company has acknowledged through PRNewswire that it has received the unsolicited offer and said the board would “carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and all Twitter stockholders.”
