Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, slammed billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Wednesday after a report claimed that the Microsoft co-founder spent millions attacking Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.
According to Breitbart News, hundreds of millions of dollars were transferred from Gates’ foundation to 11 of the 26 organizations “signed an open letter last month urging Twitter advertisers to boycott the company if Elon Musk restores free speech on the platform”.
The report examined public filings to trace hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions from the letter signatories back to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, citing research and analysis from the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO).
“In total, 11 of the 26 anti-Musk organisations received funding from a Gates-backed entity,” the report claimed.
Musk replied: “What a d*** move!”
“You think that’s bad, wait until you find out what he put in your vaccine,” Musk replied to a follower.
According to FFO’s research, the Gates Foundation made 102 separate cash grants to or through New Venture Fund totaling $457 million.
Soros, Clinton, and Obama staffers sign anti-Musk petition to boycott Twitter.
After Musk tweeted about “who funds these organizations that want to control your access to information,” late Wednesday reports surfaced that the groups behind the anti-Musk campaign are wealthy Democrat donors and their family foundations, labor unions, and European nation governments.
Earlier this month, about 26 activist organizations and non-governmental organizations signed a letter to Twitter advertisers urging them to boycott the platform if Musk makes changes to content moderation.
“Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter will further toxify our information ecosystem and be a direct threat to public safety, especially among those already most vulnerable and marginalised,” the groups wrote to advertisers.
“Under Musk’s management, Twitter risks becoming a cesspool of misinformation, with your brand attached, polluting our information ecosystem in a time where trust in institutions and news media is already at an all-time low,” the groups wrote.
The people behind the 26 groups were first revealed by the Daily Mail.
Musk has put the Twitter acquisition on hold until the company reveals the exact number of bots on its platform.
He has previously sparred with Gates on Twitter over a variety of issues.
Gates had expressed concern about Musk’s Twitter takeover, saying he could turn the microblogging site into a “worse” platform.
Musk had previously tweeted a photo of Gates, accusing him of shorting Tesla stock.
Musk’s tweeting, according to Gates, “doesn’t bother me.”
