Before bidding to buy Twitter, Elon Musk thought about starting his own social media business.
A new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Twitter reports that on March 27, Musk met with CEO Parag Agrawal and Chairman Bret Taylor to discuss, among other things, Musk joining the board. But they also learned a bit more during this meeting.
“As part of this discussion, Mr. Musk said he was considering various options regarding his ownership, including joining Twitter’s board of directors, seeking to take Twitter private, or launching a competitor on Twitter,” the filing said.
Agrawal on April 5 announced that Musk would join the board, but that quickly fell apart. Later that month, Musk made a hostile offer, which was accepted by the company on April 25. In recent days, however, that offer has appeared less certain.
Musk reiterated his intention to launch a competitor in a follow-up meeting with Agrawal and Taylor four days after their first meeting, the new filing indicates.
There is no indication whether Musk will revive this possibility if the Twitter deal fails.
But if he does, of course, he won’t be the first to do it, of course. Donald Trump, after being permanently banned from Twitter, announced Truth Social, a competing social media forum, which stumbled but was embraced by many on the far right.
Musk said he would reverse Trump’s Twitter ban if he took over, but a recent SEC filing shows Trump’s deal with Digital World Acquisition Corp bars him from posting on Twitter. Trump is obligated to first post any social media post on Truth Social, the filing revealed, and then wait at least six hours before posting it on another social site.
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