Elon Musk's Reasons For Buying Twitter: 'I Didn't Do It To Make Money. I Did It To Try To Help Humanity'

The world’s richest man is nearing the finish line of acquiring social media platform Twitter Inc TWTR. With many speculating why Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk is spending $44 billion to acquire Twitter, Musk shared several reasons Thursday for why he is doing the deal.

What Happened: In a letter addressed “Dear Twitter Advertisers,” Musk addressed the pending acquisition that is expected to be completed this week.

“I wanted to reach out personally to share my motivation in acquiring Twitter. There has been much speculation about why I bought Twitter and what I think about advertising. Most of it has been wrong,” Musk said in the letter.

Musk said he is acquiring Twitter for the “future of civilization” and to create a “common digital town square.”
The platform will welcome both sides of the political aisle, he said.  

“There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”

Musk acknowledged that Twitter cannot become a “free-for-all hellscape” and said there will be laws of the land. The Tesla CEO said the platform must welcome all and let users decide what they want to see and who to follow, comparing it to choosing to play video games or see movies based on their rating levels and the person’s age and maturity.

“In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of traditional media has fueled and catered to those polarized extremes, as they believe that is what brings in the money, but, in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost.”

Musk said he bought Twitter with humility and recognizes that failure in achieving his goals is possible. 

“That is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy. I didn’t do it to make money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love.”

Speaking to potential advertisers on Twitter, Musk said that ads can be done right and entertain and inform users.

“For this to be true, it is essential to show Twitter users advertising that is as relevant as possible to their needs. Low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content!”

Musk thanked past Twitter advertisers and said he wants Twitter to be the “most respected advertising platform in the world.”

“Let us build something extraordinary together.”

Related Link: Twitter Shares Fall On Subpar Q2 Performance 

Why It’s Important: The letter from Musk comes as his on, off and on again deal to buy Twitter appears poised to take place by the Friday, Oct. 28 deadline set by the Delaware Court of Chancery in an order staying Twitter's lawsuit against Musk. 

In a June town hall with Twitter employees, Musk discussed the idea of free speech and said that people should be allowed to say racist things on the social media platform, but Twitter shouldn’t promote them. 

Musk also previously said he would welcome back former President Donald Trump to Twitter. The former president was banned for his statements made around the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The new Twitter owner has stood on the belief that all should be welcomed on Twitter and it is up to users to weed out who they don’t want to see — a strategy that could backfire and send users to other platforms.

The move by Musk to welcome back some banned users like Trump could also hurt existing social media platforms like Truth Social that appeal to one side of the political spectrum more than others.

Trump Media & Technology, which owns Truth Social, has a pending SPAC deal with Digital World Acquisition Corporation DWAC to go public.

Kanye West recently announced the acquisition of social media platform Parler. West has been kicked off of several platforms for hate speech, but welcomed back on Twitter by Musk.

The comments by Musk could put pressure on other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, both owned by Meta Platforms META over decisions to ban users. 

Musk has 110.2 million followers on Twitter, making him the third most followed account, trailing only Barack Obama and Justin Bieber. Musk recently passed singer Katy Perry in followers.

Musk’s letter on Thursday was widely followed and shared across the platform. Musk’s mother Maye weighed in, calling it a “wonderful message” and saying she was a #ProudMom reading it.

TWTR Price Action: Twitter shares are up 1% to $53.93 on Thursday, nearing the $54.20 buyout price that is likely to be realized by end of day Friday.

Read more on the demands Twitter employees have for Musk ahead of the acquisition. 

Photo via Shutterstock.