Elon Musk expresses uncertainty about his ability to purchase Twitter after placing a $43 billion bid, hinting at a potential plan B.

• Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and worth billions, admitted on Thursday that he is uncertain if he will be able to purchase Twitter, just hours after making an offer to acquire the company.
• If TED's Chris Anderson asked if there was a "Plan B" if his current offer was rejected, Musk replied, "Yes."

Elon Musk, billionaire CEO, admitted at the TED2022 conference in Vancouver that he is uncertain about his ability to purchase Twitter. This statement was made just hours after a regulatory filing disclosed that he had offered to acquire the company for $54.20 per share, or approximately $43 billion.

Twitter's board must review a bid that values shares lower than the $70 they reached last summer, despite Musk stating that the offer would be his "best and final" one.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal reportedly told employees in a staff meeting that the company is considering the offer.

If TED's Chris Anderson asked if there was a "Plan B" if his current offer was rejected, Musk replied, "Yes."

He declined to elaborate.

Although Musk is extremely wealthy, a significant portion of his assets are not liquid, causing some analysts to question how he would obtain the necessary funds if his bid were accepted. Specifically, Wells Fargo analysts stated on Thursday that Musk may need to sell Tesla shares in order to finance the acquisition.

Anderson queried about Musk's "funding secured" status, referring to the controversy that arose from Musk's tweet regarding taking Tesla private, which ultimately led to issues with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"If possible, I have the necessary assets to accomplish it," Musk stated.

Musk stated that he did not respect the SEC after revealing that funding for the Tesla take-private deal had been secured, as he had previously tweeted.

He referred to certain individuals at the agency as "those bastards."

In August 2018, Musk announced on Twitter that he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 a share and had funding secured. However, the SEC charged him with making "false and misleading" statements in September 2018. Musk and Tesla eventually agreed to a settlement with the government and revised it in 2019.

The SEC imposed fines of $20 million each on Musk and Tesla, and temporarily removed Musk from his position as chairman of the board.

In June 2020, the SEC stated that Musk had violated certain terms of the agreement that mandated the CEO to have tweets preapproved if they contained material business information about Tesla that could impact the share price. Musk had tweeted that Tesla's stock price was overvalued, which caused the shares to decline.

The SEC is currently probing Musk's Twitter activity and its impact on his trading decisions.

I don't intend to implicate everyone at the SEC, but particularly the San Francisco office," Musk stated during the discussion about the controversy surrounding the take-private tweet. "The SEC was aware that funding had been secured, yet they pursued a public investigation. At the time, Tesla was in a precarious financial situation, and I was informed by the banks that if I did not agree to settle with the SEC, they would cease providing working capital, and Tesla would go bankrupt immediately. This was like having a gun to my child's head. As a result, I was forced to concede to the SEC unlawfully, those bastards.

The SEC declined to comment.

Musk’s vision for Twitter

If Musk gains control of Twitter, he will outline his vision for the platform.

He stated that it is crucial for Twitter to serve as an inclusive platform for free speech, comparing it to a "de facto town square."

He recognized the necessity of content moderation, specifically regarding explicit calls to violence, and stated that the platform must adhere to the laws of the countries in which it operates.

He stated that he would like the platform's policies and algorithm to be more transparent so that people can scrutinize and voice their concerns.

Twitter already attaches links to its policies when it removes or labels a post that violates its guidelines.

Generally, Musk said “time-outs” are preferable to permanent bans.

Another top priority for him is eliminating "spam and scam bots" from the platform.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

-CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.