Musk makes $43 billion offer for Twitter to build 'arena for free speech'

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk talks at the Automotive World News Congress at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, January 13, 2015. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo

(Reuters) - Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk took aim at Twitter Inc with a $43 billion cash takeover offer on Thursday, with the Tesla CEO saying the social media company needs to be taken private to grow and become a platform for free speech.

"I think it's very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech," Musk, already San Francisco-based Twitter's second-largest shareholder, said at a TED Talk in Vancouver when asked about his bid.