'If I'm so smart, why did I pay so much for Twitter?' Elon Musk jokes at Paris tech conference

At a conference in Paris, Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, made light of his recent $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. While acknowledging the hefty price tag, Musk revealed his decision to purchase the social media platform was driven by concerns about its negative impact on society. Speaking at the VivaTech conference, he shared his vision for Twitter as a positive force and highlighted the substantial progress made since taking control in late October. "If I'm so smart, why did I pay so much for Twitter then?" he said.

Musk expressed his apprehensions about Twitter's direction and its potential harm to civilization before he took it over. Concerned about the platform's impact on civil society, he decided to invest in Twitter as he considered himself a significant user of the platform. Musk aimed to steer Twitter in a positive direction and restore its influence as a force for good.

Since assuming control of Twitter, Musk claimed significant improvements had been made. He asserted that the platform had undergone a substantial cleanup, resulting in a more positive user experience. With confidence, he stated that regular Twitter users would agree that the quality of the platform had improved. Musk mentioned that Twitter had successfully eliminated 90 per cent of bots and scams, along with a shocking 95 per cent reduction in child exploitation material. This revelation exposed the severity of the issue and highlighted the importance of his intervention.

Prior to the conference, Musk met with Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH, for lunch at the prestigious Cheval Blanc Hotel. The nature of their conversation remains undisclosed, leaving room for speculation regarding potential collaborations or shared interests between the world's two richest individuals.

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During the conference, Musk engaged in lighthearted banter with Antoine Arnault, Bernard Arnault's son, who posed questions to the Tesla CEO. In a humorous exchange, Antoine jokingly inquired about how much longer Musk would allow Tesla's valuation to surpass LVMH's, given Tesla's market value of $818 billion compared to LVMH's $476 billion. Musk responded by highlighting the unpredictable nature of valuations and the influence of his statements on Tesla's stock price. "Valuations are a strange thing because sometimes I've said the stock price is too high at Tesla and then the stock price goes up and I'm like 'okay.' When I tweet it's too high, it almost always goes up. In the case of Tesla the value of the company is primarily on the basis of autonomy,” Musk said.

Musk briefly addressed Tesla's fluctuating stock performance during the conference. Although Tesla's value peaked at over $1.2 trillion in late 2021, the stock experienced significant volatility throughout the year. Musk playfully mentioned his previous comments about the stock being overvalued, only to see its price rise. He attributed Tesla's valuation to the company's emphasis on autonomous technology, which has been a key driver of investor confidence.

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