Turns out he wasn’t in “goblin mode” after all. Last week, Elon Musk, in his characteristic fashion, tweeted a series of suggestions for improving Twitter after it was revealed he had become its biggest individual shareholder. They ranged from asking whether the site’s headquarters should be turned into a homeless shelter to whether advertising should be removed from the platform’s premium service.

Many of those tweets were later deleted, including one sharing a meme depicting lawyer Saul Goodman from the series Breaking Bad with the words: “In all honesty your honor my client was in ‘goblin mode’.”

Whether or not Musk was mischievous at the time – it’s hard to tell with the richest person in the world – we have to take those tweets very seriously now that he’s offered $43bn (£33bn sterling) to buy the microblogging site.

Given Twitter’s central role in shaping the news and political agenda on both sides of the Atlantic, its ownership is a sensitive issue, particularly if it is about to be placed between the hands of an entrepreneur with a fortune of 260 billion dollars. Not only is Musk one of the site’s most popular accounts with 81.6 million followers, but he’s the CEO of two companies – electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX – that intersect with the regulatory and political spheres.

“The Beltway and the EU will have a blast with it,” said Dan Ives of US investment firm Wedbush Securities. “Musk owning Twitter is a nightmare for many and it will go through regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the pond.” Still, Ives doesn’t see rival bidders outweighing Musk’s $54.20 per share bid. Musk has plenty of money and a 9.2% stake, giving him a strong footing as Twitter’s board – which he declined to join over the weekend – considers its next move.

Change is on the cards if it succeeds. Musk said in a letter to the board on Thursday that Twitter is “the platform for free speech worldwide” but cannot achieve this “societal imperative” in its current form and “must be transformed into a private enterprise”.

His main concern seems to be Twitter’s moderation policy. In March, he tweeted out a poll asking users if the site upheld the principle of free speech. “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto town square, failure to uphold the principles of free speech fundamentally undermines democracy,” he said. “What should be done?” He has declared himself a “free speech absolutist” and, in this context, the Twitter-banned former US President Donald Trump must hope that Musk’s candidacy will succeed.

However, the regulatory environment for social media is becoming increasingly difficult. In the UK, the upcoming Online Safety Bill will require platforms to closely monitor their content for damage such as hoarding (one of Twitter’s most nasty phenomena). Even though the site is privately owned, it won’t be able to deflect lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic who want to make the internet a safer place.

Other Musk suggestions are less controversial. Last week, it asked users if they wanted an edit button to rewrite posts after launch, prompting the company to confirm it was working on such a feature anyway. He also touched on changes to the premium service, Twitter Blue, such as removing advertising, raising the prospect of a dramatic commercial departure for a company that derives 90% of its $5 billion in annual revenue from advertising.

Investors’ main concern with Twitter is growth, in terms of ad revenue and followers, with the likes of TikTok providing fierce competition for users’ attention. Given Musk’s emphasis on free speech, user growth will likely be in focus if the company ends up being his.

According to Twitter’s latest quarterly results, daily active users grew by 25 million over the year to 217 million, with the company meeting its target of 315 million by the end of next year.

Last week’s drama should have added a few more users, and given the likely hurdles Musk must overcome before taking over the company, the platform is not yet in danger of losing its relevance.