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Elon Musk recently dismissed reports that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried contributed to his Twitter takeover, specifically about $100 million.

The new Twitter owner’s revelation came from a Business Insider headline claiming SBF had a $100 million stake in the popular social media platform.

Musk replied, “False.”

The story

The Business Insider story was a write-up from Semafor, a recently-launched news site.

It claimed Elon Musk invited SBF to “roll” his Twitter stock into the company, which was set to go private under Musk’s ownership.

SBF was previously reportedly buying Twitter stock with a view to his takeover.

In addition, $43 million in Twitter stock was listed as one of FTX’s illiquid assets in a leaked sheet earlier this month.

SBF initially expressed willingness to contribute over $10 billion, but he didn’t inject any fresh cash into the deal.

Instead, his pre-existing Twitter shares were initially injected into the company under Musk, according to unpublished text messages Semafor cited.

Upon Musk’s denial, Semafor updated the report to clarify that Sam Bankman-Fried didn’t invest in Twitter.

The new Twitter owner also criticized the news outlet, pointing out that SBF was a backer – a fact the publication discloses in its coverage of the FTX crisis.

Read also: Sam Bankman-Fried puts out Argentina rumors

Musk and SBF

Private text messages were publicized in Twitter’s lawsuit against Elon Musk, prompting him to push through with his takeover offer.

According to the messages, SBF and Musk were introduced in March by Will MacAskill, an Oxford Philosophy Professor.

MacAskill is said to have advised the FTX creator on his “effective altruism” principles.

At the time, SBF said he was happy to sit and talk with Musk about Twitter or other things.

He reiterated his offer in April when Musk announced his offer to buy Twitter outright.

SBF later sent the Tesla CEO a Twitter thread where he outlined his vision for a decentralized Twitter.

SpaceX and Boring Company backer Michael Kives sent the same thread to Musk, saying it would be “cool to do this with Sam Bankman-Fried.”

Read also: Sam Bankman-Fried suffers biggest loss in a day

Musk tells all

Elon Musk recently revealed early interactions with the FTX founder set off alarm bells.

According to the Twitter owner, SBF set off his “bs detector.”

Musk elaborated in a Twitter Space, saying:

“I talked to him for about half an hour, and my b******* meter was red-lining. This dude is full of ****, that was my impression.”

Musk alluded to the time he was looking for investors to contribute to the Twitter deal.

“He does not have capital,” he added. “He will not come through, that was my prediction.”

Instead, Binance, FTX’s rival and eventual savior, invested $500 million in Musk’s takeover.

Reference:

Elon Musk calls report that SBF invested $100M in Twitter ‘false’