Elon Musk To Buy Twitter For $44 Billion By End Of This Year

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has reached a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion; this sale will put the Tesla chief executive in command of a social network with more than 200 million users, a platform which he has often criticised for not living “up to its potential as a platform for free speech”.

The deal was reported on Monday, yesterday the 25^th of April 2022, after weeks of speculation on Twitter’s future. According to multiple sources, on the 4^th of April Elon Musk emerged as the largest single shareholder for the social media platform, leading to him declaring a takeover bid on the 14^th of April, offering to buy all of Twitter’s shares for $54.20 each.

Twitter’s board was opposed to this at first, “enacting an anti-takeover measure known as a poison pill that could have made a takeover attempt prohibitively expensive”. Afterwards, Elon Musk confirmed a funding package for the deal, including $21 billion and a “debt funding from Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions”, which in response was accepted by the shareholders and the reluctance faded.

Yesterday, Elon Musk released a statement on Twitter saying, “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. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and users to unlock it.”

Twitter has confirmed that the transaction has been unanimously approved by the board of directors and is expected to close by the end of 2022. Twitter’s chief executive, Parag Agrawal, said, “Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”

Here are some reactions to the news: