Elon Musk takes over Twitter for $44 billion
The planned takeover of Twitter by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk came through on Monday with the announcement of a deal between the billionaire and the board of Twitter. Twitter sold itself to Musk for $54.20 a share, representing a 38 percent premium over the company’s share price this month before he revealed he was the firm’s single largest shareholder. In the final deal, Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter Inc. for $44 billion thus ending weeks of speculation that has trailed his emergence as the single largest shareholder and hostile takeover bid of the social media platform.
In a statement announcing the deal, Musk said: “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. “Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
The deal, which was unanimously approved by Twitter’s board, is expected to close this year, subject to a vote of Twitter shareholders and certain regulatory approvals.
Bret Taylor, Twitter’s chairman, said in a statement that the board had “conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”
Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter and still sits on its board, has reacted to the new development. In a Tweet on Tuesday, he said he was happy the platform “will continue to serve the public conversation”, even though he does not believe “anyone should own or run Twitter”.
“It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company, however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.”
Meanwhile, there is no certainty yet on whether the management of the company will e changed or retained. What is certain however is that, following the belief and philosophy of the new owner, Twitter has announced the restoration of the accounts of all Republicans that were suspended. Donald Trump has however declined rejoining the microblogging platform saying, “I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth.”
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