Twitter has come a very long way since Nicole Scherzinger dawned the first-ever Twitter dress back in the day. These days, polarizing figure Elon Musk is in charge of the platform. Given his controversial tweets and ideologies, certain celebs have vanished from the platform, including the likes of Jim Carrey.
As we'll reveal in the following, things could have turned out to very different for Twitter. Back in 2017, Disney showed interest in purchasing the social media platform. We'll take a look at why the deal ended up falling apart.
In addition, David Letterman and a group of investors had placed a bid just prior to Elon Musk. The first bid was rejected, but they had a chance for a second go. We'll take a look at what caused the delay for a second bid, and how Elon Musk ended up snatching the property.
Disney Almost Bought Twitter Before Elon Musk Back In 2017
Disney's CEO Robert Iger revealed that the company came very close to purchasing Twitter long before Elon Musk, in 2017. So what happened, and why didn't the sale go through? Well, according to Iger himself, the deal fell apart given what a big responsibility it would've been for him and the company, especially given that nastiness involved with such a social media platform.
"The troubles were greater than I wanted to take on, greater than I thought it was responsible for us to take on," Iger revealed speaking about the potential purchase.
He added, "There were brand issues, the whole impact of technology on society. The nastiness is extraordinary. I like looking at my Twitter newsfeed because I want to follow 15, 20 different subjects. Then you turn and look at your notifications and you're immediately saying, why am I doing this? Why do I endure this pain?"
More details surrounding the purchase were not revealed, but it would've been something had Disney bought the property years back. Who really knows what Twitter could've looked like today.
David Letterman And His Team Were Asked For $44 Billion By Twitter - By The Time Letterman Was Able To Reach Billy Crystal, It Was Sold
Speaking alongside Barbara Gaines on Twitter, David Letterman made quite the reveal, stating that himself and a team tried to buy Twitter just before its eventual sale to Elon Musk.
Letterman claims his team made a bid of $33.9 billion initially.
"The early bird catches the worm. I put together some people and we talked to Bob Jenkins about buying Twitter. We made an offer of $33.9 billion. Over the weekend I get a call, and they ask, could you go to $44 billion, or $44 billion and one."
Letterman tried to get a hold of his team, however, it was too late as the deal was done and sold to Elon Musk. Among the investors Letterman couldn't get a hold of in time was Billy Crystal.
"I couldn't get a hold of all my people and the next thing I know, Elon Musk snatches it from under us. I wouldn't blame this on Billy Crystal, but he was busy doing a table read for Mr. Saturday Night, but there you go. Something else will come along."
Elon Musk would end up buying the company and according to the man behind Tesla, there was a deeper meaning behind his $44 billion purchase.
Elon Musk Bought Twitter For $44 Billion 'To Help Humanity'
According to Elon Musk himself, the goal with buying Twitter wasn't to make money, instead it was an attempt to help humanity. He revealed alongside BBC, "I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love."
Musk added that he was excited about adding rules to the platform. He also revealed that Twitter was neglected for a few years, and his goal was to improve the social media platform.
"Twitter cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences!"
He added, "I think it's an asset that has just sort of languished for a long time but has incredible potential, although obviously myself and the other investors are overpaying for Twitter right now."
A huge turn of events and as we saw, one that could've gone in a different direction.