Elon Musk has agreed to buy Twitter in a $ 44 billion deal that will give the world’s richest man control of a social network with more than 200 million users.
The sale puts Tesla’s CEO in charge of a company he has often criticized for not fulfilling its potential as a “freedom of speech” platform. Shares of Twitter rose 5% on Monday to $ 51.50 per share.
The deal comes after a dramatic few weeks of speculation about Twitter’s future sparked by Musk’s emergence as the platform’s largest single shareholder on April 4. He then announced a $ 43 billion takeover bid on April 14.
“Twitter has a purpose and relevance that affects the whole world,” Twitter CEO Parag Agraval said in a tweet confirming the sale. “Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by work that has never been more important.”
Agrawal will reportedly host a general staff meeting on Monday afternoon to respond to the news. Musk’s takeover was unexpected and controversial among Twitter employees.
Initially, the Twitter board adopted a measure against ingestion, known as a poison pill, which could make an attempt to swallow unbearably expensive. But his initial reluctance to accept the deal seems to have faded after Musk confirmed the financing package for the deal and shareholders backed him.
The company, which started in 2006, currently has a market capitalization of nearly $ 40 billion. Its co-founder Jack Dorsey stepped down as CEO in November 2021, handing over the reins to Agrawal, the company’s former chief technologist.
Musk himself is a well-known user of the app with 83 million followers and tweeted back in 2017, in which he expressed interest in buying the company. He signaled that Twitter needed to transform itself as a private company in order to build trust with users and do better in what it called the “public imperative” of free speech.
“I hope even my worst critics stay on Twitter, because that means freedom of speech,” he tweeted Monday. In recent weeks, Musk has voiced a number of proposed changes to the company, including easing content restrictions, freeing the platform from fake and automated accounts, and moving away from the ad-based revenue model.
But despite claiming to be an “absolutist of free speech,” Musk regularly blocks social media users who have criticized him or his company and used the platform to harass reporters who have written critical articles about him or his company. .
The deal is not expected to come under serious scrutiny by US competition authorities, as Musk’s main business interests – Tesla, the electric car company, the SpaceX rocket business and the Boring Company – do not compete with Twitter. .
However, the deal is likely to attract comments from politicians and campaign officials, given Twitter’s influence as a source of information and Musk’s position on free speech.
This ethos has led many to wonder if Musk will restore high-profile accounts that were previously removed for violating community guidelines, including that of former US President Donald Trump. Trump was banned permanently by Twitter in 2021 for using the riot-promoting platform in the US capital.
Trump told Fox News on Monday that he would not return to Twitter, even if his account was restored, and instead joined his own startup, Truth Social. “I hope Elon buys Twitter because he will improve it and is a good person, but I will stay with Truth,” Trump said.
The purchase comes amid growing criticism of the power of big technology and highlights the ability of wealthy executives to control platforms used by millions.
“No matter who owns or runs Twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of major social media platforms,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday.
Musk is the richest man in the world, according to Forbes, with a fortune of nearly 279 billion dollars. He began making his fortune in 1999 when he sold Zip2, an online directory for mapping and business, for $ 307 million. He used his stake to create what would become PayPal, sold on eBay for $ 1.5 billion in 2002.
That same year, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, after finding that cost constraints limited NASA’s interplanetary travel. The company eventually developed cost-effective reusable missiles.
In 2004, Musk was courted to invest in Tesla, then a startup trying to build an electric car. He eventually became CEO and led the company to astronomical success as the world’s most valuable automaker and the largest seller of electric vehicles.
The agencies contributed to the reporting
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