Musk says overpaying for Twitter but it has 'incredible potential'

San Francisco, Oct 20 : Admitting that he is "obviously" overpaying to acquire Twitter, Elon Musk has said that the micro-blogging platform has great potential in the long term.

In an earnings call after posting strong Tesla quarterly results, Musk said late on Wednesday that Twitter has "incredible potential".

"The long-term potential for Twitter, in my view, is an order of magnitude greater than its current value," he told analysts.

"I am excited about the Twitter situation because obviously, I know that part incredibly well. And I think it's massive and has sort of languished for a long time but has incredible potential," the world's richest man noted.

"Although obviously, myself and the other investors are obviously overpaying for it with Twitter right now," Musk added.

Musk is paying $44 billion for Twitter if the deal goes through after dramatic twists and turns which has resulted in Musk and Twitter reaching the court.

A trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery in the US has now been postponed till October 28.

Musk is likely to sell a portion of his shares in Tesla to help finance the close of that $44 billion take-private deal, reports CNBC.

The Tesla CEO is being investigated by federal authorities over his $44 billion takeover deal of Twitter, the micro-blogging platform revealed in a court filing last week.

In response to Twitter's filing, Musk's attorney Alex Spiro was quoted as saying that it is a move to "distract from Twitter's own legal problems".