Elon Musk, a billionaire, has taken ownership of Twitter in one of the biggest tech deals in history. Musk will pay $44 billion for the social network, with shares valued at $54.20 each. On April 14, Musk announced his takeover attempt, calling it his ‘best and final offer.’
However, Twitter initially put in place a “poison pill defence” against the hostile takeover. However, after Musk stated that he had obtained finance, the Tesla board entered into negotiations with the co-founder of the company. Musk met “privately with some shareholders of the firm to laud the merits of his idea” on Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal, and also made video calls to them to press his case.
Earlier today, Musk had posted on his Twitter account, “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.” It’s also worth noting that Musk sent out a fairly obnoxious tweet about Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Saturday, ostensibly in response to Gates shorting Tesla. More than a million people have liked the tweet. He had then joked that the ‘shadow ban council’ was likely reviewing his tweet.
On the platform, he has been a strong supporter of ‘free speech.’ In the filing to the US SEC, Musk wrote, “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.” “Twitter has extraordinary potential,” he stated in the filing. I will unlock it.”
Musk has already floated the idea of privatising Twitter. “If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!” he tweeted recently. Then came another post in which he stated that all individuals on the platform should be authenticated.
The Tesla co-founder has already spoken on the necessity for a ‘Edit Button’ on the platform, and even held a poll in which he purposefully misspelt yes and no, apparently to emphasise the need for an edit button given the frequent errors that people make while tweeting. It’s worth noting that Twitter has previously announced that an Edit button will be introduced.
CT founder Anzer Ayoob also congratulated Musk on Twitter, with the addition of disappointment in the tweet. Anzer tweeted, “As @elonmusk buys twitter, my @verified request got denied despite of completing all requirements. 😔 Anyways, Congratulations 🎉👏.”
According to Forbes magazine, Mr Musk is the world’s richest person, with a net worth of $273.6 billion, owing mostly to his ownership of electric vehicle producer Tesla, which he also controls. He is also the CEO of SpaceX, an aerospace company.
The Chenab Times News Desk