Elon Musk And Twitter Reach A Sale Agreement
Image: NBC News
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man with a Forbes estimated net worth of about US$300 billion, has agreed to acquire Twitter for US$44 billion.
The 50-year-old is generally recognized as Tesla’s CEO, and he has led the automobile industry to tremendous heights. Musk has set his eyes on one of the most prominent social media networks as a passionate entrepreneur, investor, media proprietor, and business magnate – creator of SpaceX, The Boring Company, and co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI.
What Happened
According to The Guardian, Musk became the platform’s largest single stakeholder on April 4th, with a 9.2 percent stake, sparking weeks of uncertainty over Twitter’s future. The entrepreneur was then asked to join the board, but instead, on 14 April, he made a takeover bid and offered to purchase all of Twitter’s shares for US$54.20 apiece.
Image: Reuters/BBC News
Twitter’s board was originally hesitant, enacting a poison pill anti-takeover provision that would have rendered a takeover bid prohibitively expensive. The board, however, approved the purchase after Musk revealed a finance plan for the sale that included US$21 billion of his own money as well as loan capital from Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions.
Twitter’s board of directors unanimously authorized the purchase, which is now subject to regulatory approval. The transaction is likely to finalize this year. Musk will then join the Twitter workforce for a question-and-answer session at a later date, according to CEO Parag Agrawal.
What Is Musk’s Future?
Despite the deal’s problems and questions about Musk’s authority over Twitter, many are concerned that the billionaire would cause a reversal in the platform’s efforts to combat disinformation, harassment, hate speech, and other issues. Musk, after all, has used his Twitter account to criticize politicians, distribute false information about Covid-19, and make derogatory statements about the transgender community.
Image: Akshar Dave/Unsplash
The risk presently is that unrestricted free expression online will eventually result in an unappealing platform. Following the agreement on Monday, Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said in a statement to CNN Business, “Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech or lies that undermine our democracy.”
If the deal is completed, it will be one of the largest acquisitions in tech history, and it may alter how the world uses social media. Musk will get control of a social network with over 200 million users as well as the firm he constantly criticizes. He thinks that Twitter has not lived up to its potential as a “free speech” tool.
Musk revealed his interest in purchasing Twitter in 2017 as an important and renowned user of the service, with 83 million followers. Instead, he believes that the network should become a private firm in order to create trust with users and better serve the “societal imperative” of free expression.
🚀💫♥️ Yesss!!! ♥️💫🚀 pic.twitter.com/0T9HzUHuh6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2022
Musk also plans to provide new features, loosen content restrictions, use algorithms to eliminate fraudulent and automated accounts, and move away from the existing advertising-based business model.