Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion
About the Deal
It’s now official, Elon Musk has finally acquired Twitter for a record breaking $44 billion deal. Musk now has full control over the social media platform after a hostile tussle with the company’s board.
Summary in Brief
Last night there were reports that Twitter’s board is likely to agree with Musk’s proposed deal, which got confirmed today. Once all the formalities are done, the deal will include acquisition of Twitter for a whopping $44 billion with shares valued at $54.20 apiece.
The deal which reached an agreement today was announced by the celebrity American billionaire on April 14, which he called the ‘best and final offer’ from his side. This happened after Tesla's CEO acquired more than a 9% stake in the company and rejected the offer to join Twitter’s board. In a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor, Musk said “Since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company”
Twitter share price also jumped significantly after Musk announced his acquisition of 9% stake in the company. In the last week itself, the stock boomed by around 15%.
The Tesla CEO then turned hostile towards the company’s board and said he “would need to reconsider” his “position as a shareholder” if the offer to acquire the company is not accepted.
After all tussles with the board, Musk managed to ‘force’ the board to sell the company at the offered price. Once the formalities are done and all the shares are acquired by Musk, Twitter will become a private company.
A lot of developments followed during Musk’s hostile proposition to the company’s board and after the deal was finalized.
Ex Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey reacts
Jack Dorsey, ex-CEO and co-founder of the microblogging platform, posted a series of tweets to react to the acquisition. He supported the move by Musk and called him the “singular solution”. "In principle, I don't 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," Dorsey tweeted.
He also said that “Twitter as a company” has been his “sole issue and biggest regret”. Dorsey also added that “Twitter has been owned by Wall Street and the ad model” as of now. Taking the company back from the market is the “first correct step” as per the co-founder.
Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal’s Fate
The current Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal will get $42 billion if the new owner (Musk) does not consider retaining him. Agarwal, who took over as Twitter’s CEO from Jack Dorsey in November 2021 reportedly told employees at a town hall meeting that the company’s future is now ‘uncertain’.
How Musk Can Change Twitter
Some experts believe that Musk can bring some radical changes to the microblogging platform.
Upholding the principle of Free Speech!
As per the company’s new owner Elon Musk himself, Twitter content moderators go too far when it comes to moderating content. Musk sees that as the internet’s “de facto town square.” After the acquisition is announced, he 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” With all these, it is safe to believe that Musk may work on dealing with content moderation to make the microblogging platform uphold the principles of free speech.
Making Algorithms Public
Musk has also revealed his plans to make Twitter’s algorithm an open-source model. This will allow users and others to check how Tweets are shown on their feed. “Having tweets sort of be mysteriously promoted and demoted with no insight into what’s going on,” he said at the TED conference earlier this month.
Optimizing the Platform
Besides, he may also work on improving how Twitter ranks the top accounts and suggest giving content producers more credit than the ones who rarely post anything but are ranked on top. He also promised in a Tweet that he would “defeat the spam bots or die trying!”