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Elon Musk recently denied reports that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried contributed around $100 million to his recent Twitter acquisition.

The revelation came amid a Business Insider headline claiming SBF has a $100 million stake in the popular social media platform.

However, Musk dismissed the allegations, tweeting, “False.”

The story

The Business Insider story was an article write-up by Semafor, a recently launched news site.

The story claims Elon Musk urged SBF to “roll” his Twitter shares in the company, which would go private under his ownership.

SBF allegedly bought Twitter shares in anticipation of Musk’s takeover.

Also, earlier this month, a leaked balance sheet listed $43 million worth of Twitter stock as one of FTX’s illiquid assets.

SBF initially expressed willingness to contribute more than $10 billion but did not invest any new money in the deal.

Instead, his pre-existing Twitter shares were initially injected into the company under Musk, according to unpublished text messages cited by Semafor.

Following Musk’s denials, Semafor updated the report to clarify that Sam Bankman-Fried did not invest in Twitter.

Twitter’s new owner also slammed the outlet, noting that SBF backs Semafor, a fact the publication revealed in its coverage of the FTX crisis.

Read also: Elon Musk talks about how busy he’s become

Musk and SBF

Twitter’s lawsuit against Elon Musk revealed private texts that prompted him to complete his takeover offer.

Oxford philosophy professor Will MacAskill reportedly introduced SBF and Musk in March.

Allegedly, MacAskill advised the creator of FTX on his “effective altruism” principles.

At the time, SBF said he was happy to talk to Musk on Twitter or any other topics.

He brought up his offer again in April when Musk announced his direct offer to buy Twitter.

SBF then sent Tesla’s CEO a Twitter thread outlining their vision for a decentralized Twitter.

SpaceX and Boring Company backer Michael Kives sent SBF’s thread to Musk, saying it would be “cool to do this with Sam Bankman-Fried.”

Read also: FTX debt is enormous, 50 creditors owed millions

Musk tells all

Elon Musk recently revealed early interactions with the FTX founder rang alarm bells.

According to the owner of Twitter, SBF triggered his “bs detector.”

Musk explained what happened in a Twitter space, saying:

“I talked to him for about half an hour, and my b******* meter was red-lining. This dude is full of ****, that was my impression.”

Musk said that he was looking for investors to contribute to the deal at the time.

“He does not have capital,” he added. “He will not come through, that was my prediction.”

Instead, FTX’s rival and savior, Binance, invested $500 million in the Musk acquisition.

Reference:

Elon Musk calls report that SBF invested $100M in Twitter ‘false’