Elon Musk's now owns Twitter after US$44 billion deal
SHAH ALAM - Twitter's board has accepted Elon Musk's bid to buy influential social media network, ending the weeks of uncertainty when Musk announced he had become the company's biggest shareholder on April 4.
The Tesla chief executive officer (CEO) will buy the platform for about US$44 billion, taking it private by purchasing shares for $54.20 in cash.
"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.
"I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans," Musk said in a press release.
He later tweeted a screenshot of the statement with rocket ship and heart emojis.
The Wall Street Journal said the deal has polarised Twitter employees, users and regulators over the power tech giants wield in determining the parametres of acceptable discourse on the internet and how those companies enforce their rules.
Twitter Inc also announced that Musk had secured US$46.5 billion to finance the acquisition and that it expects the deal to close in 2022.
Late March this year, Musk complained about Twitter on Twitter — questioning the company’s commitment on their principles of free speech, the possibility of “de facto” bias in its algorithm, and the need for another such platform.
His tweet had sparked conversation at a time when Twitter was still suffering from the departure of its founder and CEO Jack Dorsey in November last year.
It was later revealed that Musk, at that time, had secretly and controversially amassed a more than five per cent stake - at which point he was required to disclose his holdings to the Security and Exchange Commission but didn’t as reported by Bloomberg.
The delay, according to The Washington Post, had allowed him to ear US$156 million by letting him to continue to acquire Twitter shares for cheap.
It was said that Twitter had invited Musk to join the company’s board of directors, in what looked like an attempt to mollify him, only for him to reject their offer. On April 14, Musk announced his intention to acquire Twitter outright and take it private.
In an Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Musk said the company had “extraordinary potential” but that he had lost faith in the current management.
New York Times reported that Musk laid out his plans on securing funding for purchasing Twitter on April 20, at which point the board started seriously negotiating the sale of the company.
