Elon Musk Admits Legal Pressure Drove His Decision to Buy Twitter

While Elon Musk has claimed he purchased Twitter to “restore free speech,” the billionaire admitted that “legal pressure” was the driving force behind the acquisition in a recent interview with the BBC.

TechCrunch reports that Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter, has acknowledged that legal pressure ultimately influenced his decision to purchase Twitter. Musk revealed in a rare interview with BBC reporter James Clayton on Twitter Spaces that he thought he would be legally required to complete the purchase due to a case that was pending at the time.

Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks via video link during the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

Clayton questioned Musk about whether he had made the decision to purchase Twitter voluntarily or if the ongoing legal dispute after Musk withdrew his offer had forced him to do so. Musk answered truthfully, “Well, I kind of had to.” When asked if he believed a court would make him do it, he confirmed, “Yes, that is the reason.”

Clayton added: “So you were still trying to get out of it. And then you just were advised by lawyers, “Look, you’re going to buy this?'” To which Musk responded: “Yes.”

Twitter sued Musk around September of last year to make him honor his signed commitment to buy the company for the agreed-upon price of $44 billion, or $54.20 per share. Musk attempted to argue that Twitter inflated its real user numbers and understated the number of bots using the platform, making his obligation to purchase null and void. But a short while later, Musk notified the SEC that he planned to purchase Twitter at the agreed-upon price.

Since then, Musk has taken a huge loss on the deal, at least on paper. A recently leaked internal memo places the value of the company at about $20 billion, a huge drop from the $44 billion he paid just six months ago.

At the time, many observers thought Musk took this action because his legal argument was unconvincing and the trial was not going in his favor. The admission made by Musk in this most recent interview sheds more light on the events surrounding the purchase of Twitter and appears to be at odds with his previous claims that he was purchasing Twitter to “restore free speech,” despite censorship continuing to increase on the platform.