Forget everything Elon Musk ever said about making Twitter profitable and turning it into a dominant social media force upon his purchase of the platform for $44 million last year.
The company is now valued at $15 billion with a bleak forecast.
It's not due to lack of effort, though. Musk did cut several task forces, laid off about 75% of its workforce and continues to attempt making money off of Twitter Blue subscriptions—largely to no avail.
But forget all that.
Elon Musk didn't do it for the money, according to Elon Musk.
The acquisition of the social media giant was for the good of mankind, as Musk was concerned about its negative impact on society. At least that's what he said at a conference in Paris on Friday.
According to Business Insider, Musk revealed his true motive behind the purchase.
“If I’m so smart, why did I pay so much for Twitter then?”
“I was concerned Twitter was having a negative effect on civilization and corrosive effect on civil society, and anything that undermines civilization, I think, isn’t good."
How noble.
“I felt Twitter kept moving in a negative direction and my hope and aspiration was for it to be a positive force for civilization.”
\u201c"I was concerned Twitter was moving in a negative direction". \n\ud83e\udd14\ud83e\udded\u2b05\ufe0f\u27a1\ufe0f\nElon Musk at #VivaTech answering why he decided to buy Twitter \n\nhttps://t.co/oiJ6tPY3pR @BusinessInsider\u201d— Maud Clerc (@Maud Clerc) 1686995909
Of course, users of his own platform called out his alternative facts.
Many noted the platform has become an increasingly toxic space.
\u201c@cest_clerc @BusinessInsider Are you sure he didn't answer, "I was interested in \nmoving Twitter in a negative direction"?\u201d— Maud Clerc (@Maud Clerc) 1686995909
\u201cThe answer is, seriously: he thought there were not enough nazis and fascist on twitter and wanted to do something about it.\nhttps://t.co/6yrD0S78JX\u201d— \u0411\u0430\u0439 \u041c\u0438\u0445\u0430\u043b (@\u0411\u0430\u0439 \u041c\u0438\u0445\u0430\u043b) 1687021276
\u201c@TheTweetOfJohn So he thought it was a good idea to make it worse?\ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\ud83e\udd26\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\u201d— John FitzGerald (@John FitzGerald) 1686967556
\u201c@TheTweetOfJohn @UROCKlive1 What a joke!\u201d— John FitzGerald (@John FitzGerald) 1686967556
\u201c@TheTweetOfJohn @elonmusk so you made it more toxic and corrosive? How does that help society.\u201d— John FitzGerald (@John FitzGerald) 1686967556
\u201c@TheTweetOfJohn @UROCKlive1 He's as bad at rationalization as he is at business.\u201d— John FitzGerald (@John FitzGerald) 1686967556
\u201c@SamanthaFlom @elonmusk You\u2019re a long way off @elonmusk\u201d— Samantha Flom (@Samantha Flom) 1686957014
\u201c"I think if someone is a regular Twitter user, then most people would say their experience has improved," Musk said.<--I'm less suppressed now on Twitter, BUT see it as far more dangerous today because of the volume of bigotry, hatred & disinformation \n\nhttps://t.co/cGwk50zKaw\u201d— Jones Murphy (@Jones Murphy) 1686989524
\u201coh, it\u2019s to save the world. riiiiiight. such altruism. \ud83e\udd23 https://t.co/HUzHkmVNxZ\u201d— iquanyin (@iquanyin) 1686953885
\u201cMaybe @elonmusk has something of a sense of humour after all... @jyoti_mann1 reports for @BusinessInsider https://t.co/c6Jtf9FYNj\u201d— Chris Johnston (@Chris Johnston) 1686936678
\u201cBecause your ego is bigger than your intellect?\nhttps://t.co/cnBm7qx55q\u201d— VeteranForDemocracy (@VeteranForDemocracy) 1686961900
@danieldp/Twitter
\u201c@eefsgurl He bought Twitter because he was lonely and thought it would make him popular.\u201d— Eeefs aka phobos (@Eeefs aka phobos) 1687112525
And Musk truly believes he's doing a stellar job.
"I think if someone is a regular Twitter user, then most people would say their experience has improved."
"We've gotten rid of 90% of bots and scams and various bad things happening. We've gotten rid of 95% of child exploitation material on Twitter, which was a shock to see ... some of what was going on for 10 years."
That's not what we've been hearing from regular Twitter users...
\u201cThe twitter bots are out of control, this is how skynet starts.\u201d— 3rd Place J (@3rd Place J) 1687305352
\u201cI thought Twitter was getting rid of bots...\n\nIt's been bad the last 2 weeks\u201d— whiLd (@whiLd) 1687302325
... but whatever he needs to tell himself.