Twitter CFO Tweets about Confidential Purchase

One of the social media firm's executives mistakenly publicly broadcast a tweet meant to be a private direct message to a colleague.

The message expressed chief financial officer Anthony Noto’s desire to acquire another company.

It read: "I think we should buy them. He is on your schedule for Dec 15 or 16 -- we will need to sell him. i have a plan."

Noto quickly deleted the message. But, too late. Speculation over which firm he was referring to has begun.  

Technology news site Recode suggested Shots - a selfie app backed by Justin Bieber - as well as Secret, a tool for anonymously sharing messages with a wide audience.

Others noted that Noto had recently followed several employees at Mic, a news website aimed at young people.