Elon Musk made this announcement at a conference just hours after revealing he was offering to buy the company at $54.20 a share, valuing the company at $43 billion.
Also on Thursday, Twitter's chief executive told employees that the company had begun considering a proposal from the American billionaire. Parag Agrawal also stated at a staff meeting that the company is not "hostage" to this proposal.
Speaking at the TED2022 conference in Vancouver, Musk said, "I'm not sure I can really get it." He added that he has a "Plan B" in case his Twitter application is denied, but did not provide details on what that might mean.
Elon Musk also said at the event that Twitter needs to be more open and transparent. “I think it’s very important that there is an inclusive arena for free speech,” he said. Musk said that if Twitter's board of directors decides to reject the proposal, it would be "completely unjustified not to put this proposal to a shareholder vote."
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia rejected the offer, tweeting: "I don't believe Elon Musk's offer comes close to Twitter's intrinsic value given its growth outlook."
The billionaire claimed to own a stake in Twitter through his investment company Kingdom Holding Company. However, Musk immediately responded by asking how many shares of Twitter the Prince Alwaleed's firm owns, adding: "What is the Kingdom's attitude towards the freedom of speech of journalists?"
Elon Musk already owns over 9% of the social networking platform, but he is not yet its largest shareholder.
According to Forbes magazine, Musk is the richest person in the world, largely due to the fact that he owns shares in the electric car manufacturer Tesla, of which he is the chief executive.
He didn't reveal any details about how his Twitter bid will be funded. Musk is being advised by US investment bank Morgan Stanley.
Twitter's board has secured the support of another Wall Street bank, Goldman Sachs, and is considering how to respond to a possible takeover.
In addition to acknowledging the takeover bid, Twitter has been publicly silent since Elon Musk revealed his attempt to buy the company.
Twitter may be worth tens of billions of dollars, but that's nothing compared to Elon Musk, who is worth over $200 billion. And such wealth makes him a dangerous adversary of the social network.
