Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk, right, is interviewed by TED CEO Chris Anderson at the non-profit's 2022 session in Vancouver on Thursday. Musk has proposed to buy Twitter and take it private, prompting Twitter's board of directors to adopt a 'poison pill' defence in response. (Stacie McChesney/TED ) Later on Thursday, during an onstage interview at the TED 2022 conference in Vancouver, he went even broader: "Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization." Musk revealed in regulatory filings over recent weeks that he'd been buying Twitter shares in almost daily batches starting Jan. 31, ending up with a stake of about nine per cent. Only Vanguard Group controls more Twitter shares. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York Federal Court alleges Musk illegally delayed disclosing his stake in the social media company so he could buy more shares at lower prices. After Musk announced his stake, Twitter quickly offered him a seat on its board on the condition that he limit his purchases to no more than 14.9 per cent of the company's outstanding stock. But the company said five days later that Musk had declined. A poison pill path is a "predictable" defensive manoeuvre, although it could be seen as a "sign of weakness" and viewed unfavourably on Wall Street, Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said in an emailed note.
