Elon Musk has agreed to acquire Twitter for $44 billion, giving him control of a social network with over 200 million members.
As a forum for “free speech”, Tesla’s top executive has regularly attacked the firm, alleging it has not lived up to its potential.
The transaction on Monday ends weeks of concern over Twitter’s future, sparked by Musk’s becoming the platform’s largest shareholder on April 4. On April 14, he announced a takeover proposal for all Twitter shares at $54.20 apiece.
Initially, Twitter’s board resisted, instituting a so-called poison pill anti-takeover provision that might have made a takeover costly. Musk announced he would fund the sale with $21 billion of his own money and loans from Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions, and shareholders warmed up to the idea.
According to Musk, “Free expression is the backbone of a functional democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where subjects essential to humanity’s future are debated.”
“Twitter has huge potential,” he added.
The corporation, founded in 2006, has a market worth of approximately $40 billion.
In November 2021, co-founder Jack Dorsey relinquished his CEO title to Agrawal, the company’s former CTO.
Musk, who has 83 million followers on the app, has expressed interest in owning the firm since 2017.
He believes Twitter should become a private firm to gain user confidence and better serve the “societal imperative” of free expression.
Because that is what free expression means, I hope even my harshest detractors stay on Twitter.
