After weeks of back and forth, with many speculating what wouldn’t happen, Twitter finally gave in to the $44 billion offer made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk to acquire the platform.
The online space lit up yesterday after news broke out that the social media platform had agreed to start talks with Elon Musk about the offer he had made which meant that Twitter Inc had accepted the $44 billion transaction offer made on Monday.
The deal, which last week appeared uncertain took a sudden turn with many moving parts being accelerated over the weekend after Musk won over shareholders with financing details of his offer. The social platform which was under pressure had no choice but to start negotiations with Musk to buy the company at the proposed $54.20 per share price.
According to reports, Mr Musk will pay $54.20 cash per share for the San Francisco-based platform, which will now be taken private after days of intense negotiations between the entrepreneur and the board.
“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,” said Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s CEO.
News of the announcement from the board came Monday after it had reached a deal with the tech billionaire. The board represented a 38 per cent premium from Twitter’s closing price on 1 April, the day before Musk made a move for the company by announcing his 9 per cent stake.
“The Twitter board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders,” said Bret Taylor, the platform’s independent board chair.
In a statement, the company said that the deal had “been unanimously approved by the Twitter board of directors” and that it was expected to close in 2022 if approved by shareholders.
Elon Musk is acquiring Twitter for $44 billion
Once the deal is finalized, it will mean that Twitter will no longer be run as a public company since its initial public offering in 2013. It will now be a privately run company. Twitter’s shares were up about 6% following the news.
“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,” Musk said in a statement.
“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 spambots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it,” Elon added.
Elon also made a comment about his critics urging them to remain on the platform even after the deal is successful. According to him, “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means,” he wrote.
However, there are those that see this deal as a “dangerous move” stating that it offers too much power to tech billionaires. Several liberal representatives expressed that the deal was “dangerous for democracy” calling for the need for a wealth tax and more regulations on big tech.
Similar responses were also got from the White House press secretary Jen Psaki after she was asked about Mr Musk buying the social media platform at her Monday press briefing.
Ms Psaki said she was “not going to comment on a specific transition” but reiterated that the administration continues to believe that “no matter who owns or runs Twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms” and stressed that “tech platforms must be held accountable for the harms they cause”.
She pointed to bipartisan interest in Congress for antitrust measures and reforming section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
“Our concerns are not new. We’ve long talked about, and the president has long talked about, the powers of social media platforms … to spread misinformation, disinformation [and] the need for these platforms to be held accountable,” she added.
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