Warren Buffett has chimed in on Elon Musk’s voracious Twitter habits that have sparked much controversy in recent months.
“I don’t think it’s helped him a lot,” Buffett said while gently laughing in an interview with CNBC in an interview on Thursday. The Oracle of Omaha was amused when the interviewer brought up Musk’s Twitter musings because the Tesla (TSLA) CEO attracted much scrutiny over an Aug. 7 tweet that suggested he wanted to take his electric car company private, among other controversial tweets.
Although Musk reversed course and said last week that Tesla will remain a public company, his comments reportedly led to a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and shareholder lawsuits that alleged he made false claims to raise the price of his company’s stock.
Buffett acknowledged the potential legal issues that could occur if CEOs were to discuss proposed financial deals on a popular social messaging service open to anyone in the public to read and comment on.
“It would be particularly dangerous to start commenting about Berkshire daily, which I never would do,” Buffett said regarding tweeting about his conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway.
Regarding tweeting in general, Buffet said he doesn’t “see a reason to” and that he puts out an annual report instead that contains his thoughts on business.
“I do not have a daily view on all kinds of things,” he said. “I just think there’s other things in life I want to do than tweet.”
Buffet also acknowledged that he’s familiar with a fake Warren Buffett Twitter account that earned minor acclaim in recent days for posting trite business and life-skill tips like “stay healthy and fit” and “keep in touch with friends.”
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“This copycat imitator, he’s putting out better stuff than I would,” Buffet said clearly amused. “If he puts out enough good advice I’ll take credit for it.”
