Well, not quite. If we accept the premise that he didn't want any of this, then it is probable that elon wanted to do his usual market manipulation thing, lever

Well, not quite. If we accept the premise that he didn't want any of this, then it is probable that elon wanted to do his usual market manipulation thing, leveraging his popularity and wealth to take advantage of opportunities normal people couldn't, I presume. He was insufficiently careful and his bluff was called, which is an inherent risk of gambling. That isn't a lack of desire, that's called fucking around and finding out. Why should the subject of manipulation (twitter administration) just quietly bend over and take it after being rocked so badly? If Elon successfully pulled out of the arrangements, it would look terrible for Twitter.