Bill Gates said he is unsure whether Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) will lead to positive change, saying it might in fact exacerbate the social media app's problems when it comes to misinformation.
"He actually could make it worse," the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) said at an event hosted by The Wall Street Journal.
"That's not his track record. I mean his track record with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX is pretty mind blowing at putting together a great team of engineers and taking the people who work in those fields in a less bold way and really showing them up. I kind of doubt that will happen this time, but we should have an open mind and never underestimate Elon."
The Tesla chief executive's emphasis on promoting "free speech" has caused Gates to be concerned about how the social media platform will handle misinformation.
Some critics have pointed to Musk's often confrontational Twitter presence as proof that he will allow more abusive and harmful content to circulate.
Gates weighed in on the US$44bn deal after being mocked last week by Musk on Twitter for shorting a US$500mln position on Tesla's stock.
"Sorry, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla, the company doing the most to solve climate change," Musk texted Gates, the NY Post reported.