Tesla CEO Elon Musk attended the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg at Gruenheide in Germany on March 22, 2022. Patrick Pleul/AP/Shutterstock
Take over. Elon MuskTwitter was purchased by a deal worth $44 billion on Monday April 25.
The public company will be purchased for $54.20 per share in cash, and the company will then be privately held by the Tesla CEO, who is the world’s richest man at age 50.
“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 press release announcing his purchase on Monday.
He stated that he plans to make major changes. “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 spam bots, and authenticating all humans,” he explained. “Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair, added in a statement, “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.”
Musk bought nine percent of Twitter shares earlier this month and was offered a spot on the board of directors after becoming the company’s largest stakeholder. The SpaceX CEO initially accepted the position, which was contingent upon a background check on the 11-member board on April 5. He turned down the position on April 9, four days later. His rejection was not explained.
The position, which was to have had a term ending in 2024, would have required Musk to agree not to own more than 14.9 percent of Twitter’s stock or take over the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, The New York Times reports.
