Updated April 17th, 2022 at 20:19 IST

Elon Musk's old tweet showing his interest in buying Twitter takes internet by storm

World’s richest man Elon Musk stirred the world by announcing his bid to buy Twitter earlier this week. Soon after, the multi-million firm adopted ‘poison pill'

Reported by: Riya Baibhawi
(Image: AP/Shutterstock)  | Image:self
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World’s richest man Elon Musk stirred the world by announcing his bid to buy Twitter earlier this week. Soon after, the multi-million firm adopted the ‘poison pill’ restricting Musk to a maximum 15% stake in the company. Amidst the whole episode, a 2017 tweet by the Tesla founder is now going viral for all the right reasons.

What is the tweet about?

The tweet dated December 21, 2017 features Musk having a conversation with Dave Smith and eventually ending up asking him the monetary worth of Twitter. The thread starts with Musk stating, “I love Twitter.” To this, Smith suggests that he should “buy it” then. Furthermore, the tech giant continues the conversation by asking him, “How much is it?”

Yesterday, SpaceX CEO  revisited his old Tweet, leaving an inverted smile emoticon there. The tweet captured the attention of netizens who wondered if Musk had been planning to buy the microblogging platform since 2017. One user wrote, “Buy it now Elon," while another joked, "Please buy Brazil too." 

 

 

Meanwhile, Twitter said on Friday that its Board of Directors has unanimously adopted a “poison pill” in response to the Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the 100% shares in the firm and hold it privately. The move is being labelled as a “limited duration shareholder rights plan.” It aims to make investors “realise the full value of their investment” and also restrict any other entity or a business from gaining control of the firm as it mandates them to pay the shareholders a "premium." Twitter will implement the plan in case Musk’s stakes in Twitter skyrocket above 9% to 15%. 

Saudi Prince rejects Musk's offer

Earlier, one of Twitter's largest shareholders, Saudi billionaire Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, rejected SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $41 billion cash bid for a potential takeover of Twitter Inc. “I don’t believe that the proposed offer by Elon Musk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects,” the Prince tweeted, making Musk question the Prince’s opinion on the subject of Freedom of Speech. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has repeatedly iterated that he intends to acquire Twitter to promote “free speech” which he says “is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.” “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form,” he stated in the filing. 

(Image: AP/Shutterstock) 

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Published April 17th, 2022 at 20:19 IST