Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter because it will save civilization, money is no reason

Why is Elon Musk trying to buy Twitter? One answer is because as the world's richest person he can. The other answer is because Musk sees owning Twitter as a sort of responsibility because, as he says, it will save civilization.

There were indications that something was brewing between Twitter and Elon Musk but it came as a surprise to many when on April 14, the world's richest person announced his intention to purchase Twitter for $43 billion. A lot of chatter has happened since then and both Twitter, which sees Musk's bid as a hostile takeover, Musk are busy strengthening their positions for what could be a messy boardroom battle. But the question is: Why is Musk trying to buy Twitter?

A precise answer may never be known because Musk's $43 billion offer doesn't seem like a business proposition. It looks like a move that screams "I want it, I will have it." In his letter to Twitter chairperson, Musk said that he wants to unlock the potential of Twitter.

A few hours later, at the TED 2022 conference in Vancouver, he explained his intention behind the move in response to some questions. What he essentially said is that he wants to own Twitter because it is a crucial part of our civilization, particularly when it comes to free speech, and that he wants to save it so that civilization can be saved. What about money and profit motives? None at all, said Musk.

In response to a question, Elon Musk said about his $43 billion bid for Twitter: "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... So the future of civilization, but you don't care about the economics at all."

His comments, in some way, follow from his views in the letter he wrote to the Twitter Board. In his letter, he had said: "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... Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it."

At the TED Conference, Musk also talked about what needed to be done with Twitter. And his views sounded similarly bombastic as his tweets.

Musk said that Twitter should reveal its algorithms and put them in public. "Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square. So it's just really important that people have both the reality and the perception that they're able to speak freely within the bounds of the law... (and to build this perception) Twitter should open source the algorithm. The code should be on Github so people can look through it."