Tesla CEO Musk hints at ‘moving on’ from Twitter’s takeover bid, days after filing documents with the SEC

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a cryptic post to Twitter early Sunday morning, saying he was ‘moving forward’ in what many initially thought was a reference to… underway Offer to take over the social media giant — before the tech giant said the message meant he had finished mocking his billionaire rival Bill Gates.

Musk tweeted to his more than 83 million followers, leaving many nervous as he was on the move for several hours on Sunday.

The post has garnered more than 136,000 likes, 11,000 retweets, and more than 2,400 quoted tweets as of Sunday morning.

Later in the day, Musk clarified the tweet, saying that the word “moving forward” was in reference to “mocking Gates for lowering Tesla’s prices while claiming to support climate change action.”

Musk recently ridiculed Gates’ hunch on Twitter on Saturday, posting a picture of the Microsoft tycoon alongside Apple’s controversial pregnant man emoji “in case you need to kill a boner.”

Musk, the world’s richest person, posted a follow-up photo in response to Friday’s post of six masked men reading “Shadow Prohibition Board reviews tweet.”

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk may be chilling about his proposed takeover of Twitter, after tweeting cryptic ‘going ahead’ on Sunday

A bad joke could anger Twitter employees who were angered by Musk’s ongoing bid to buy the company after he said he would take a hard line in support of free speech.

Musk issued the mysterious statement days after he submitted the documents Thursday to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He had previously pledged $21 billion in stock, $13 billion from Morgan Stanley in debt facilities, and another $12.5 billion from the bank and others in margin loans.

But a “portion” of his Tesla stock has been floated as collateral, which analysts fear could have a significant impact on the company.

The 50-year-old billionaire also revealed Thursday that he is considering putting up a bidding offer on Twitter after the company ignored the takeover offer.

He said he was looking at acquiring shares directly from shareholders but admitted he had “not decided whether to do so at this time.”

The move signals Musk stepping up his commitment to take over Twitter after weeks of back-and-forth between the entrepreneur and the company.

Earlier this week, the social media giant raised its defense of the “toxic pill” to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a last-ditch effort to prevent it from increasing its stake in the company further.

Musk, the world’s richest man, currently owns a 9.2 percent stake in the tech giant and is trying to make it private with an unsolicited offer of $54.20 per share.

In a Twitter poll of nearly 20,000 users, 73% of Musk wanted to buy Twitter, while 27% opposed it.

Meanwhile, Twitter’s share price closed 0.77 percent at $47.08 on Thursday, as speculation persisted over whether Musk’s bold bid would work.