Texts Reveal Sam Bankman-Fried and Elon Musk Discussed Twitter Buyout

According to recently revealed messages, an advisor close to crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was in contact with Elon Musk over reported interest in acquiring Twitter.

According to a Business Insider report on Sept. 28, Sam Bankman Fried’s top advisor Will MacAskill told Elon Musk that SBF was “potentially interested” in buying the social media platform.

The revelation comes from a series of private texts unveiled as a part of the discovery process in Musk’s court battle with Twitter, the report noted. MacAskill contacted Musk in March, texting about SBF’s potential interest in Twitter:

He referred to Musk’s Twitter poll on the network and free speech, adding:

“I’m not sure if this is what’s on your mind, but my collaborator Sam Bankman-Fried has for a while been potentially interested in purchasing it and then making it better for the world. If you want to talk with him about a possible joint effort in that direction.”

Huge amounts of money

Musk’s response questioned whether Bankman Fried had “huge amounts of money?” The advisor reportedly said that SBF was worth around $24 billion and could contribute between $8 and $15 billion for the takeover. According to Forbes, SBF’s ‘real-time net worth’ is currently closer to $17 billion.

MacAskill attempted to arrange a meeting between the two entrepreneurs and financing was discussed with a Morgan Stanley banker in April, the report added. However, nothing came of it and Musk pulled out of the $44 billion takeover deal in July claiming the company was unable to provide complete information on spam and bot activity.

Other texts and messages have also been recently revealed between the billionaire Tesla boss and various industry leaders including Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, former CEO Jack Dorsey, and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison.

SBF buying spree

Bankman-Fried’s interest in the social media platform comes as no surprise considering his recent acquisition spree. The crypto billionaire has been aggressively snapping up distressed digital asset companies to increase his crypto empire.

Earlier this week, SBF’s FTX exchange won the auction to buy up Voyager Digital’s assets for $1.4 billion. On Sept. 29, Voyager counsel filed a proposed order to authorize its sale to FTX US.

According to CrunchBase, SBF’s research and venture firm Alameda has made 181 investments since it was founded in 2017, and it reports an additional 22 investments for FTX.