Elon Musk has pulled off another one of his classic moves. Elon and Twitter have officially reached a deal at an impressive $44Bn, which would make Elon the owner of the 200 million+ userbase platform, also making it private in the process. This marks an end to one of the most enthralling corporate takeovers in a long time, and possibly the most publically propagated.
Musk has constructed the narrative that the intent behind this move was to incorporate his vision into the platform to give it a truly free-speech atmosphere, and in his recent statement, said “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.”
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
It was reported by anonymous sources earlier on Monday that the two parties are in the final stage of discussions surrounding Musk’s offer to acquire twitter. Musk’s quoted price of $54.20 per share was well above the share price on the day SEC filings revealed Musk’s acquisition of a 9.2% stake in the company. The share price for holders back then was around $38, which means this is a dream deal for the shareholders.
As reported earlier, the reasons why Elon was able to twist the board’s arms was his success in financing the deal, and the board’s inability to find any other bidder willing to match the offer.
It is noteworthy that Elon Musk has made this shopping splurge in a personal capacity, and it does not involve Tesla Inc., or any other of his companies. An eye catching deduction would be, Elon has just bet 20% of his net-worth on twitter. Ofcourse, freedom of speech has been at the forefront of the news cycle, but it’s not a far-fetched assumption that Musk sees this move beyond it’s face value.
It is still uncertain as to weather CEO Parag Aggarwal needs to redecorate his CV, or whether Elon will join the company as a Chairman. Either way, credit where credit is due, there is a general optimism in the user community that visible changes will be seen in a short period of time.
