Al Gore never really said he invented the Internet, but he did once try to buy a key Internet player.
Gore and former Current TV co-founder Joel Hyatt once tried to buy Twitter, the Vice-President said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday.
The entertaining -- and boozy -- details of Gore's unsuccessful deal-making were first reported in New York Times' writer Nick Bilton's "Hatching Twitter," a recounting of the company's early years.
The scene took place at the St. Regis hotel in San Francisco in 2009. Gore met with Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone with "copious amounts of wine and Patron tequila," fueling the conversation, according to Bilton.
Gore shouldn't feel too bad about missing out on Twitter. He's in good company. Bilton also reported that Facebook wanted to buy Twitter at one point, but founder Mark Zuckerberg was talked out of it by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Twitter stayed on its own and filed to go public earlier this month.
Still, Gore didn't let the hangover of a whiffed deal sour him on Twitter -- @algore has 2.7 million followers. "They built that business into a fantastic success," Gore told Bloomberg Television. "I'm very bullish on Twitter. It's become a global utility. It's a great business."
It's not as if Gore needs the tech cred or money either. Gore reportedly made $70 million after selling Current TV to Al Jazeera and serves as a director on Apple's board.
Related
Before You Go
