Elon Musk reaches deal to buy Twitter
The deal brings arguably the internet’s most influential platform under the control of one of the world’s richest people.
Elon Musk is buying Twitter and taking it private.
Twitter's board of directors unanimously agreed to Musk's offer to purchase the social media platform at a price of $44 billion, the company announced Monday.
The deal brings arguably the internet's most influential platform under the control of one of the world's richest people. Musk, a prolific Twitter user, has repeatedly decried efforts to moderate speech on the service.
“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 spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock once the transaction closes. It's a 38 percent premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1 — the last trading day before Musk disclosed his approximately 9 percent stake in Twitter.
“The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing,” said Twitter board chair Bret Taylor in a statement. “The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-reaches-deal-buy-twitter-rcna25806