Buying Twitter ‘is not a way to make money,’ says Musk in TED interview

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Speaking for the first time since news broke of his attempts to buy all of Twitter, Musk said his offer had been made for the public good.

Musk said that he was motivated by the public interest value of the platform. Musk said it was important that people had both the reality and the perception that they were able to speak freely.

The interview with Musk was open for streaming earlier this morning.

Musk said he didn't know why he wanted to buy the micro-messaging service.

The code should be open source in order to build trust and ensure availability, according to Musk.

Musk insisted that buying Twitter was not an economic move.

This isn't a way to make money. He says that having a public platform that is broadly inclusive is important.

Just hours after Musk offered to buy 100 percent of the social media platform at $54.20 per share in cash, the interview began. He is the richest person on the planet with a worth of $260 billion. Musk said in the interview that he would want to retain as many shareholders as possible.

Musk explained his reasoning for the takeover attempt in a letter sent to Taylor this morning, saying that the platform isn't living up to its potential as a bastion of free speech.

He says in the letter that free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy and that he invested in the platform as he believed it could be the platform for free speech around the globe. I will open it.

It's not clear if the board will approve Musk's offer. The board will carefully review the proposal to determine the best course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company and its stockholders.

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