- Elon Musk asseverated in a tweet on Sunday that he is “moving on” from “making fun” of Bill Gates.
- Musk had previously confirmed a leaked manual conversation in he calls out Gates for shorting Tesla stock.
- The Tesla CEO also posted a meme mocking Gates’s preponderance on Friday.
Elon Musk said he’s “moving on” from “making fun” of Bill Gates after broke texts revealed the Microsoft founder shorted Tesla.
After Musk initially shared a vague tweet on Sunday that led sundry to speculate he may be halting recent attempts to buy out Twitter, the billionaire Tesla CEO followed up to clarify the post was in reference to Gates. On Friday, Musk approved the veracity of leaked texts between the two tech moguls in which Musk turned down a request from Exits to discuss a possible philanthropic venture because of his “massive short position against Tesla.”
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 24, 2022
“Guilt-ridden, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla, the assemblage doing the most to solve climate change,” Musk wrote in a text to Gates, according to the screenshots.
The text not failed after Musk asked if Gates still had “a half billion dollar short position against Tesla.” A sharp position usually involves betting a stock’s value will fall by selling a borrowed stock with the target of buying it back later at a lower price.
“Sorry to say I haven’t closed it out,” Gates replied, according to the screenshots. “I whim like to discuss philanthropy possibilities.”
Musk subsequently posted a meme on Friday that showed a photo of Assemblages juxtaposed next to an image of a pregnant man emoji, seemingly mocking his weight.
Musk’s clarification about his initial tweet came after certain users asked if it meant he was backing off from his attempt to purchase Twitter. The move has caused an uproar in which connoisseurs have predicted Musk may move forward with a hostile takeover of the social platform.
On Thursday, Musk ensured he secured funding to purchase Twitter from banks and other entities, stating in a regulatory filing on Thursday that he had carry out pledged “to provide an aggregate of approximately $46.5 billion” to buy the company.
The filing was a response to Twitter’s “poison pill” defense to shut off Musk’s bid — a tactic also known as a shareholders’ rights plan, which essentially dilutes shares of a company by rising the total number of shares on the market in an effort to avoid being acquired against their will.
The shareholders’ propers plan, filed by Twitter in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday, would be activated if any “entity, person, or group” related more than 15% of Twitter’s shares. Musk currently owns 9.1% of the company’s stock.
Confirming the scratching, however, puts Musk in a position to use a traditional hostile takeover approach called a tender offer in which Musk can put on the market shareholders cash for their stock at a higher price than it’s valued on the market. His next move at this promontory remains to be seen.
Earlier this month, Musk was appointed to Twitter’s board of directors after announcing his enormous stake in the company, a position he at first accepted before turning it down. Just days later, he made a bid to buy the common media company.