Elon Musk described Twitter as an asset that had been “sluggish” for a long time.
San Francisco:
Elon Musk said Wednesday that he is excited about his pending acquisition of Twitter Inc., even though he and other investors were paying more for the social media company.
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.
Musk 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.
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 ordered a halt to Twitter Inc’s lawsuit against Elon Musk, giving the billionaire until October 28 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.
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