Twitter has passed into new ownership – that of Elon Musk, and already, changes have been made visible. As the $44 billion acquisition of the micro-blogging site finally closed on the deadline provided by a Delaware court, a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) informed that Twitter’s stock will soon be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The delist will be effective from November 8, leaving Twitter to enjoy the next week as its last one as a public company, as its shares will no longer trade on public markets. According to the filing, “the New York Stock Exchange hereby notifies the SEC of its intention to remove the entire class of the stated securities from listing and registration on the Exchange at the opening of business on November 08, 2022, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 12d2-2 (a).”
As Twitter goes private, it will now be wholly owned by X Holdings, an entity that is wholly owned by Musk and will be in charge of controlling Twitter’s platform. Once it goes private, it will no longer be required to give quarterly public disclosures about their financial performance, nor will it be subject to the vigorous regulatory scrutiny that publicly trading companies are subject to.
Twitter’s shares are currently trading at $53.70, after rising by 0.66% today, but is still below the $54.20 that Musk bought the social media service with. With the delisting, Twitter will move out of the hands of public shareholders and start a new era under Musk as a private company, which was part of the deal as the billionaire looks to unlock the “extraordinary potential” of Twitter.
Seven years after it was formed by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone, Twitter had gone public and listed on the NYSE. The future nine years saw its stock clock an annual growth of 8.4% on average (according to Bloomberg), and went on to have millions of users and occupy a prominent position in the media landscape. Recent times saw the social media company wisen up and enact guidelines and features to make its platform a safer place for users – especially underage ones – as well.
Enter Elon Musk with his numerous criticisms of both the platform and the management, and who since April 2022, was locked in a battle of wills with the company. In the end, Musk finally got his way, and celebrated by firing several of Twitter’s top executives, including Twitter CEO (or is it former CEO now) Parag Agarwal. This will mean that a new board will be formed – since the old one will be dissolved and its members cease to be in charge of the company’s operations.
