The originator of the idea is Martin Varsavsky, a member of the supervisory board of Axel Springer and, as he describes himself in an article on X, “friend of Elon Musk”. Varsavsky thought it would make sense to offer Musk a platform to explain his controversial AfD statement in a guest post. After Varsavsky contacted the editor-in-chief of “Welt”, Jennifer Wilton, and informed her about the idea, she agreed because of its great news value. Varsavsky is said to have then contacted Musk.
Varsavsky explained this on Guest post came.
The blog “Medieninsider” had previously speculated about the internal discussions at Springer, but did not name the exact origin or the originator of the idea. It was suspected that, in addition to editor-in-chief Jennifer Wilton, publisher Mathias Döpfner could also have played a role.
After the text was published, there was a mixture of malicious comments and criticism, particularly with regard to the influence on the editorial section of the “Welt”. Many considered it problematic that an Axel Springer supervisory board member and a close friend of Musk could intervene in the content of a publication in this way. Musk himself has now confirmed Varsavsky's account.
