Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk has posted a cryptic tweet online which fuelled further speculation about his plans to buy Twitter.
The tweet was online for hours before Musk clarified that the post actually had nothing to do with his much-discussed bid to purchase the social media platform.
'Moving on': A two-word tweet that left us guessing
Before we get to the tweet, a quick reminder on Musk's latest developments with Twitter.
On April 4, the billionaire acquired a 9.1 per cent stake in the platform, making him Twitter's largest shareholder. He was set to join the board, but later backflipped on the decision.
On April 14, he offered to buy Twitter outright for $US43 billion ($58 billion), which is about $72.87 per share.
In a regulatory filing, Musk said he believed the company couldn't be a "platform for free speech around the globe" without drastic changes.
In a letter to Twitter chairman Bret Taylor, he said" "Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company."
On the weekend, with the company still considering his offer, Musk tweeted: 'Moving on ...'
Followers immediately jumped on the post speculating it was linked to the Twitter deal.
Among them was American businessman Jeremy Padawer who joked that "there's always MySpace", while others suspected he was already selling his shares in the platform.
But it wasn't until hours later that he clarified what was really behind the post.
Turns out, it was referring to Bill Gates
In a reply to his original tweet, Musk explained that he was moving on "from making fun of [Bill] Gates for shorting Tesla while claiming to support climate change action".
In finance, "shorting" a stock refers to an investor profiting if the value of an asset fails. Musk was suggesting Gates had stocks that would profit if his electric vehicle company, Tesla, failed.
Gates hasn't responded in Musk's 'Moving on' thread.
The tweet came after a reported Musk-Gates text exchange
On Friday, a bunch of leaked texts, reportedly between Musk and Gates, had emerged online.
The messages reportedly showed Musk asking Gates: "Do you still have a half-billion-dollar short position against Tesla?"
The response, reportedly sent by Gates, said: "Sorry to say I haven't closed it out."
A tweet by the user WholeMarsBlog included screenshots of the text messages and asked Musk if they were true.
Musk responded to say they were, but denied he was behind the leak.
Musk wants Twitter, but does Twitter want Musk's offer?
Meanwhile, Twitter's board met on Sunday and are moving closer to a possible deal with the entrepreneur.
They're expected to find Musk's offer for the company too low, ahead of reporting their quarterly earnings on Thursday.
Some shareholders are pushing for the social media giant to seek a better deal from Musk.
Whether that eventuates remains to be seen, after the billionaire made it clear he had delivered his first and final offer.
