TWTR - Musk: Buying Twitter speeds up his plans for 'everything app'

Billionaire Elon Musk at least sounds like the happy acquirer of Twitter ( NYSE: TWTR ) again, taking to the platform with his first substantial comment since dramatic developments Tuesday in his on-again off-again $44B pursuit of the company.

Twitter stock ( TWTR ) was halted at midday Wednesday for news amid reports that Musk had sent the company a letter saying he wanted to conditionally complete his agreed $54.20/share buyout deal at the previously agreed price.

Musk and Twitter later confirmed the offer, which was conditioned on Twitter staying its litigation forcing Musk to go through with the deal, and on receiving debt financing.

"Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app," Musk tweeted Tuesday evening - referring to his previous idea for creating something of a Twitter rival using his currently inactive X.com Internet domain.

Responding to a user who suggested it would be easier to start X from scratch, Musk said "Twitter probably accelerates X by 3 to 5 years, but I could be wrong."

Musk's hints (after he publicly tried to back out of the Twitter deal) that he would start a competing service became part of the record in the Delaware case deciding the deal's fate. "It's important to keep in mind the person to whom we're being asked to turn this data over to," Twitter's attorneys said in an August hearing. "This is someone who has publicly mocked Twitter for seeking to enforce a nondisclosure agreement. Who has insinuated that this litigation would be used as a vehicle for publicly disclosing Twitter's internal data. And who recently and publicly reaffirmed that if he is able to get out from the contract that he signed, his plan is to start a competing business: X.com."

Twitter closed the day up 22% up 22% - its biggest gain since April, leading to its highest close since November - after the news emerged that he claimed to be ready to close the deal .

For further details see: