Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has said that Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition could make the micro-blogging platform “worse.” The comments from Gates come several days after the Twitter board accepted Musk’s $44 billion offer to buy the company outright, but not before a ton of public drama that involved adopting a so-called ‘poison pill’ strategy to thwart the hostile takeover attempt. Despite the initial wrangling, the board members had a change of heart once the Tesla and SpaceX CEO laid out a plan to finance the deal with bank loans and personal equity that possibly involves the sale of his Tesla shares.
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with friend and business partner Paul Allen. Gates also served as the company’s chairman and CEO until stepping down from the latter position in 2000. Gates carried on as the company’s chairman until 2014 when he stepped down to concentrate full-time on philanthropy through his charitable foundation. While Gates generally stays away from making strong statements against his peers and fellow tech billionaires, his latest statement about Musk’s Twitter acquisition doesn’t come as a massive surprise, especially given his uneasy recent history with the outspoken Tesla and SpaceX CEO.
Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit, Bill Gates expressed doubts over Elon Musk’s motive for buying Twitter, saying that it’s not totally clear what he plans to do with the platform. He claimed that Musk could make it “worse” with his free speech absolutism and said that he will speak out against his fellow billionaire if that happens. “But I wouldn’t assume that’s what’s going to happen,” he added. Gates is presumably worried about Musk’s repeated rants against Twitter’s content moderation policies that aim to prevent blatant misinformation, conspiracy theories, rampant harassment and violent threats on the platform. Many observers, social workers, and industry insiders claim that Musk’s laissez faire attitude towards moderation will increase harassment and misinformation, making Twitter more of a toxic hellscape than what many already consider it to be.
Bill Gates Also Had Words Of Praise For Musk
Gates didn’t just cast doubts over Musk, but also praised his work with Tesla and SpaceX. Gates called Musk’s leadership at the two companies “mind blowing” and credited him with gathering great teams to build these firms from the ground up. He, however, expressed doubts over whether Musk will be able to repeat that kind of success with Twitter, saying “I kind of doubt that will happen this time.” Still, given Musk’s track record, Gates had a caution for naysayers, saying “we should have an open mind and never underestimate Elon.”
Gates’ observations about Elon Musk and his Twitter deal came in the backdrop of recent personal attacks against him by the Tesla CEO. Late last month, Musk posted a distasteful Tweet against Gates, comparing his physique with that of a ‘pregnant man’ emoji. Musk also recently confirmed that he had confronted Gates for allegedly shorting $500 million worth of Tesla shares after being contacted by the Microsoft co-founder for donations to fight climate change. At the latest event, Bill Gates evaded questions about whether he had actually shorted Tesla, and instead praised Musk for helping fight climate change.
