First modification: 16/06/2022 – 23:06
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Paris (AFP) – The patron of the cryptocurrency trading platform Binance, Changpeng Zhao, told AFP on Thursday that he will contribute $500 million to finance Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter to “support freedom of expression.”
“Twitter is probably the most important platform for freedom of expression in the world,” said the Canadian businessman of Chinese origin, in an interview with AFP in Paris, during the VivaTech show.
“We want to support freedom of expression,” added the businessman, known as “CZ.”
Musk announced in April that he wanted to buy Twitter for 44,000 million dollars, to return to the social network the framework of freedom that characterized it when it was created.
Musk declared himself willing to reinstate former US President Donald Trump, who had been excluded after the incidents that led to the invasion of the Capitol in Washington, on January 6, 2021.
At the beginning of May, Musk (founder of Tesla) announced that he had more than 7,000 million dollars to finance the transaction, belonging to several investors, including the founder of the Oracle computer group, Larry Ellison (1,000 million dollars), the Sequoia Capital fund (800 million) and Binance (500 million).
But Musk is now in a fight with the leadership of Twitter, which he accuses of not clarifying how many fake accounts exist on the network.
“CZ” has 6.4 million followers on Twitter, and said he will abide by Musk’s decision.
“If Elon wants to go all the way, we will follow him. If Elon cancels the transaction, it is very likely that we will withdraw anyway,” the businessman summarized.
Musk is scheduled to hold a question-and-answer session with Twitter employees on Thursday, the first since his takeover offer.
© 2022 AFP
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