San Francisco: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that he finds it vaguely therapeutic to express himself on Twitter and the platform is a way to get his messages out to the public.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the world’s richest man said: “I play the fool on Twitter and often shoot myself in the foot and cause myself all sorts of trouble.”
“Aren’t you entertained?” Musk replied with a roar of laughter when asked why a serious guy with serious ideas indulges in silly Twitter games that could also cost his followers dearly.
According to the report, he is a serial tweeter to his more than 108 million followers “who flouts convention, revels in outrageous outbursts, fights with regulators and staff, and taunts competitors”.
“It is fair to say that Musk is obsessed with Twitter, so much so that he’s been embroiled in an epic on/off buyout of the platform that has captivated Wall Street and the tech industry for months,” the report said.
According to Musk, “Twitter is certainly an invitation to increase your pain level.”
“I guess I must be a masochist”.
Musk, however, said that “I’m not doing Twitter for the money. It’s not like I’m trying to buy some yacht and I can’t afford it”.
“But I think it’s important that people have a maximally trusted and inclusive means of exchanging ideas and that it should be as trusted and transparent as possible,” said the Tesla CEO.
A US judge in the Twitter-Elon Musk case has now put the trial on hold till October 28, as both the parties deliberate on how to close the $44 billion takeover deal.
The stay was granted over the protests of Twitter’s lawyers.
Twitter has received a letter from Musk to go ahead with their original deal of $54.20 per share (or $44 billion).
In a new filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Musk’s legal team has also asked the court to adjourn the trial and all other proceedings.
However, the deal still may not go through.
–IANS