'He Can Call Himself Ceylon Musk': Snapdeal CEO Suggests Tesla Boss Buy Sri Lanka Instead of Twitter

Earlier, following tech maverick Elon Musk’s first attempt to up his share of Twitter from 9.2% to 15% as part of a plan to acquire the social media platform for $43 billion, Twitter adopted a poison pill policy to fend off the buyout. The measure would trigger a flood of new shares if Musk were to reach the 15% threshold.

Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl weighed in on the controversy surrounding Elon Musk’s hankering to purchase Twitter for $43 billion.

"He can buy [Sri Lanka's debt] and call himself Ceylon Musk", said Bahl, sharing a viral WhatsApp forward after Elon Musk made a move for a Twitter takeover.

The island nation of Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since the 1940s and recently announced that it was defaulting on its $51 billion external debt.

Ever since Tesla CEO Elon Musk launched his takeover effort for Twitter on Thursday, insisting the platform needs to be transformed, the Internet has been abuzz with suggestions and memes about tech billionaires and the global issues that can easily be solved using their wealth.

“Please someone tell him, he can buy an island in the Indian Ocean called Sri Lanka for $45 billion, He can use it to send rockets anywhere”, tweeted one user.

Another suggested there was “something wrong with the world” if Elon Musk was “bidding to buy Twitter with $43 billion”, while the country of Sri Lanka faced “a debt of $45 billion to survive”.

It was revealed earlier in April that Elon Musk holds a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, thus becoming the largest shareholder. However, the billionaire who has been advocating for free speech in public forums made a bid to buy Twitter outright, offering $54.20 per share.

“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy”, Musk wrote in a letter sent to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor, according to a securities filing published Thursday.

Elon also sat down for an interview during a TED2022 Conference in Vancouver to lay out his vision for the social media company.

"I think it's very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech", stated Musk.

Twitter’s board responded on Friday by announcing it would set in place a measure to stall or prevent Musk’s hostile takeover bid.

In line with the method, called a “poison pill” plan, set to go into effect only if Musk (or any other would-be purchaser) acquires more than 15% stake in the company, existing shareholders can buy stocks at a substantial discount to dilute the holdings of new investors and protect its ownership.

Twitter’s Board of Directors had unanimously adopted the new plan to block Elon Musk's buyout offer, saying in a press release out Friday that it had been given the green light “following an unsolicited, non-binding proposal to acquire Twitter".

Tesla CEO Elon Musk acknowledged he was “not sure” he would actually be able to buy Twitter, and when TED talk host Chris Anderson wondered if there was a “Plan B”, Musk said, “there is”.