Ex-Twitter VP says Elon Musk is an attention seeker after the billionaire offered to buy the company for $44 billion again

Loading Something is loading.

A former Twitter executive said Elon Musk was an “attention seeker” after the billionaire offered to buy the social-media platform again on Tuesday.

Bruce Daisley, who was Twitter’s EMEA vice president until he left in 2020, told Insider on Wednesday the same was true of former President Donald Trump, who Musk previously said he would bring back to Twitter.

Musk previously called Twitter’s decision to ban Trump after the January 6 storming of the Capitol building in Washington DC “morally wrong and flat out stupid.”

Daisley, who worked at Twitter for eight years, said he would bet that reversing Trump’s ban would create lots of attention for the former US president, as well as Musk. 

“The only thing that we know is that Musk is likely to try to increase the value of his lavish investment,” Daisley said. “He’s like a man with a hangover surveying the mess that he’s woken up to,”

After months of trying to abandon the deal, Musk on Tuesday offered to buy Twitter again at its original purchase price of $54.20 per share, or $44 billion. A Twitter spokesperson told Insider on Tuesday the company had received the letter sent by Musk’s lawyers, offering to acquire the platform.

“Last month, he didn’t want it and was still intent on rubbishing the platform and the executives who run it. Now he’s planning on turning it into a Super App,” Daisley said. 

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on Wednesday, Daisley said Musk changes his opinion “on a whim” and makes “spontaneous and often unpredictable decisions.”

Musk first offered to buy Twitter in April, but announced in July he was terminating the deal. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said he was backing out due to concerns about the number of bots on the platform. Twitter then sued Musk for “refusing to honor his obligations.”

Musk and Twitter were scheduled to start a five-day trial in Delaware court in mid-October and the billionaire was expected to be deposed later this week.

Experts told Insider that Musk was trying to avoid a possible court loss by deciding to acquire the social media platform again.