Elon Musk has said that he and his investors are clearly paying more for Twitter, however, he said he was excited about the social media giant’s acquisition.
He described Twitter as an asset that had been “sluggish” for a long time. “Me and other investors are clearly paying more for Twitter right now. I think the long-term potential for Twitter is an order of magnitude greater than its current value,” he said.
Tesla chief executive Musk was responding to a question during a call following the electric vehicle maker’s quarterly report. The world’s richest man is making a purchase on Twitter after trying to back away from an earlier $44 billion deal.
Read also: Elon Musk’s Burnt Hair Perfume Is Almost Sold Out, But Not Enough To ‘Buy Twitter’
In the same conference call, Musk also spoke optimistically of Tesla. Tesla, whose market cap is now less than $700 billion, could exceed the combined value of Apple Inc.’s $2.3 trillion and oil producer Saudi Aramco’s $2.1 trillion, he said.
Musk has been trying to raise money to buy Twitter, and some experts say he may need to sell about $3 billion more in stock after Tesla’s quarterly report to do so.
A Delaware Judge Orders Prosecution Against Twitter Inc.’s Elon Musk, Gives Billionaire Time Until 28 October to close the deal.
Tesla investors feared the billionaire might sell more Tesla stock to complete the deal and spread himself too thin by dragging the shares down.
SpaceX CEO Musk and Neuralink & The Boring Co. said on Wednesday that they have no current plans to link him with Twitter under one umbrella.
Meanwhile, Tesla reported its third-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago, driven by higher vehicle sales.
The Austin, Texas, electric vehicle and solar panel maker posted net income of $3.29 billion from July to September.
CEO Elon Musk said on the company’s quarterly conference call that Tesla is considering a $5 billion to $10 billion stock buyback next year, even if the economy falters.
And Musk said Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” feature won’t be ready for use this year without humans behind the wheel. But it will be ready next year “without question in my mind”.
Excluding special items, Tesla earned $1.05 per share, beating Wall Street’s estimate of $1 per share, according to data provider FactSet. Revenue rose 56% to a record high of $21.45 billion, but fell short of average estimates of $21.98 billion.
The company has delivered 908,573 vehicles so far this year. Last year, the company delivered over 936,000 vehicles. To increase sales by 50% over the previous year, which would amount to approximately 1.4 million vehicles, the company would have to sell more than 490,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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