'I love Twitter. How much is it'? Elon Musk had asked in 2017

Elon Musk will acquire Twitter for $44 billion.

The world watched with bated breath the developments that followed Tesla boss Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter earlier this month. Now, the two sides have agreed to deal for $44 billion, bringing an end to speculation about the outcome of Musk’s offer.

In wake of present developments, a tweet of Elon Musk from 2017 has come to light. Business Insider editor Dave Smith had suggested that Musk buy Twitter, in response to the billionaire saying that he loved the microblogging platform.

That prompted Musk to ask: "How much is it?"

Before Twitter confirmed its deal with Musk , Smith revisited his exchange with him. "This exchange continues to haunt me," he tweeted, sharing a screenshot of the conversation.

This exchange continues to haunt me pic.twitter.com/W06oSqx0MR

— Dave Smith (@redletterdave) April 25, 2022

Musk has promised to promote free speech on Twitter, saying that he hopes even his worst critics remain on the platform.

Read: From Jack Dorsey to Jeff Bezos, how the world responded to Twitter-Elon Musk Deal

In a statement announcing the deal, Musk described free speech as the " bedrock of a functioning democracy".

"Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," he added. "I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential -- I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."

While many celebrated Twitter's deal with Musk, others sounded warnings.

This deal is dangerous for our democracy. Billionaires like Elon Musk play by a different set of rules than everyone else, accumulating power for their own gain. We need a wealth tax and strong rules to hold Big Tech accountable.

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) April 25, 2022