Twitter’s board has finally agreed to Elon Musk’s $44bn offer to buy the social media platform.
On April 14 2022, the billionaire offered to buy the platform for $54.20 a share with the aim to not make money but to unlock the potential of the platform. The agreement means that Twitter is now on track to being taken private, ending its run on the stock market.
The unanimously approved deal by Twitter’s board is expected to close this year. This comes after Musk revealed last week that he had lined up a whopping $46.5 billion in financing in order to acquire the company, which to no surprise, acted as the turning point that gave Twitter’s board the final nudge they needed to go forward.
As said by Bret Taylor, Twitter independent board chair:
“The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing.”
He concluded by saying that the deal is “the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders”.
What Musk Means for Twitter
Musk has been a steadfast component of free speech on the platform. With an excess of 83 million followers on Twitter, he has used the platform over the years for everything from insulting politicians, sharing memes, discussing his company, and more.
“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.” He also wrote, “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”
The billionaire plans on making Twitter better by enhancing it with new features, making the algorithm open source to increase trust, defeat spam bots and authenticate humans; Although some industry experts stress that Musk’s desire for free speech may roll back some of the platform’s work to curb hate speech.
While the future holds a new and uncertain era for Twitter, Musk has some solid plans for the platform. We guess the only logical question to ask now is: Will Musk restore former president Donald Trump’s account?
