Elon Musk, the billionaire internet entrepreneur, has denied a story by the US daily saying that former President Donald Trump, who has been permanently banned from Twitter, “encouraged” him to buy the micro-blogging site. Mr. Musk has called the claim “false.”
According to Devin Nunes, CEO of Donald Trump’s Truth Social social media initiative, the former president “encouraged Elon Musk to acquire it (Twitter) because someone needs to take on these digital tyrants.”
When a US publication conveyed the allegation on Twitter, Mr. Musk said, “This is incorrect. I have had no direct or indirect contact with [Donald] Trump, who has officially declared that he will only be on Truth Social.”
Mr. Musk paid $44 billion in cash for Twitter last month. The wheels of the acquisition began to turn in early April, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that he was Twitter’s biggest individual shareholder, with a 9% ownership in the company. Soon after, he agreed to join Twitter’s Board of Directors, but stepped out after just a week.
Mr. Musk has portrayed his Twitter deal as a defence of free speech, accusing the company’s senior executives of impossible repression. The CEO of SpaceX has failed to clearly outline his goals for transforming Twitter.
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