- Elon Musk says he wouldn't sell Twitter unless a buyer was committed to pursuing the truth.
- In an interview with BBC News, Musk originally said he wouldn't sell the company for $44 billion.
Elon Musk says he wouldn't be willing to sell Twitter for $44 billion — the price he paid for it — unless he found someone committed to pursuing the truth.
In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, the billionaire was asked if he would sell the company for $44 billion, to which the billionaire answered no. He later clarified the comment, saying, "If I was confident that they would rigorously pursue the truth, then I guess I would be glad to hand it over to someone else."
He said: "I don't care about the money really, but I do want to have some source of truth that I can count on, and I hope that's our aspiration with Twitter, is to have a source of truth that you can count on."
Musk is a self-proclaimed "free-speech absolutist" and has repeatedly criticized Twitter's previous content moderation decisions.
Since acquiring the company in October, several banned accounts have been allowed back onto the platform, including former US president Donald Trump and rapper Kanye West, who is known as Ye. Although Musk said he had no part in bringing back Ye's account, the Twitter boss later removed him from the platform after Ye posted a series of antisemitic comments.
Even if Musk was willing to sell the platform, Twitter may not still be worth the billions he paid for it.
The company's value has reportedly tanked, with Musk putting a $20 billion valuation on the company, per The Information, which cited people familiar with an email he sent to staff. The amount was less than half of what he paid for the company.
Representatives for Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours.