Elon Musk has finally succeeded in buying the Twitter platform in a deal that has closed at $44 bn. The deal is likely to close by the end of the year and once it is finalized, the world's richest man will become the owner of the world's most powerful and influential social media platform. Meanwhile, sharing his intention regarding the platform, Musk has made it clear that his goal is to bolster free speech on the platform and work to "unlock" Twitter's "extraordinary potential."
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Twitter announced that it has agreed to sell itself to Elon Musk, who will take over the company private in a deal that has been valued at around $44 billion.
The deal comes after multiple news cycles in which Tesla owner and Twitter were in a deadlock after Twitter turned down the offer of its largest shareholder to buy out the company. All this happened in a course of one month only.
It is reported that under the deal terms, the shareholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk's original offer and marking a 38% premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company.
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"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 Monday. "Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."
It is expected that the deal will officially close this year.
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This deal comes only a week later as Musk revealed that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to acquire the company, an apparent turning point that forced Twitter's board to seriously consider the deal.
The board met Sunday to evaluate Musk's offer.
"The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing," Twitter independent board chair Bret Taylor said in a statement, calling the deal " the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders."
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After the announcement, Twitter's stocks were nearly up by 6%, hanging around $51.84, just shy of the offer price.
Now if approved by the shareholders and the regulators, the deal will make the world's richest man the owner of the world's most influential social media platform.
Musk has made it a point over the past few days that his goal is to bolster free speech on the platform and work to "unlock" Twitter's "extraordinary potential."
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Musk added in his Monday statement that he wants 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." Separately, he said in a tweet Monday that he hopes "even my worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means."
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in Monday's statement that "Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world," He added: "Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."It's not clear whether Agrawal will remain in the top job following the takeover.
Musk has previously made fun of Agrawal and tweeted a meme comparing the Twitter CEO to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
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Musk also said in his offer letter to buy Twitter that he does not "have confidence in management."In the days since Musk's initial bid, many following the company wondered whether Twitter would try to find another buyer, especially after the company put in place a poison pill to make it more difficult for Musk to acquire the company without its approval.
Meanwhile, the CFRA senior equity analyst Angelo Zino said Monday that Twitter's board more seriously considering Musk's offer may have come "from the Board's realization that an alternative bid from a 'white knight' may be difficult to come by, especially following the decline in asset prices from social media companies in recent weeks/months."
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