The twists and turns that Twitter has gone through under the leadership of Elon Musk have triggered many debates on the possible future of the microblogging social media platform. One of these debates is related to Musk selling Twitter, and he didn’t hesitate to answer the question.
Musk explained that possibility of selling Twitter is out of the question, even if someone agrees to pay him $44 billion – the amount he paid to acquire Twitter. His decision, however, comes with an exception!
In an interview with BBC, the billionaire entrepreneur outrightly rejected any possibility of him exploring an option related to getting rid of Twitter. He later clarifies that there is only one possibility when he would consider selling Twitter – if he is confident of the buyer rigorously pursuing the truth.
“If I was confident that they would rigorously pursue the truth, then I guess I would be glad to hand it over to someone else,” Musk said.
He also mentioned that deal size doesn’t matter to him as he cares less about money and more about a buyer’s intent. He emphasized that a buyer must be aligned with the aspiration to make Twitter a source of truth that people can rely upon.
Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist”, has repeatedly criticised Twitter for its previous content moderation policies and decisions related to the suspension of accounts.
After Musk took over the control in October, several accounts that were banned have been allowed to return to the platform. This includes former US president Donald Trump, and rapper Kanye West (also known as Ye). Although Musk claimed he was not involved in the decision to unblock Ye’s account, he later blocked Ye after Ye made a number of racist comments.
Given Musk’s unpredictive nature, it’s difficult to say what’s exactly brewing in his mind. Even if Musk is exploring all options related to selling the platform, Twitter is still considered overvalued and may not be worth all the billions he paid.
A considerable number of advertisers have suspended their campaigns on the platform, which has affected Twitter’s revenue stream. As a result, the company’s valuation has plummeted. Musk has tagged Twitter with a $20 billion valuation as per the sources of The Information, who claimed to have learnt it from an email he sent his staff. The amount is less than half of what he paid to acquire Twitter.
Just yesterday, Dazeinfo reported that Musk has already dissolved Twitter Inc. and merged it with X Corp., another Musk-owned company which owns all of Musk’s properties, Including Space X and Tesla.
Whether Musk is toying with the idea of selling Twitter or not, it’s clear that more such discussions will only raise questions about the future growth of Twitter. And if he fails to win back the confidence of lost advertisers soon, Twitter will definitely be up for sale – if it’s not today!
