#Sold! Musk seals £35bn Twitter deal
Site’s board says world’s richest man is the ‘best path forward’
THE world’s richest man Elon Musk last night secured a blockbuster £35billion deal to buy Twitter.
Talks between the two began on Sunday and ended yesterday, with the socal media site’s board saying a sale to Musk was the ‘best path forward’.
Twitter initially tried to block the deal, vowing to implement a so-called poison pill, but it is understood the 11-strong board was swayed by Musk’s unveiling of financing last Thursday.
The deal will see the South African entrepreneur take the social media giant off the New York Stock exchange and overhaul its policies on free speech.
As the takeover was announced, he 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.’
The takeover has been a rollercoaster ride and taken less than two weeks to play out. It will go down as one of the most dramatic deals in US corporate history.
Musk declared his intent to buy the company on April 14, tweeting: ‘I made an offer.’ During the process he ignored all ‘normal’ takeover protocols – instead using Twitter to try to garner support as well criticise those who thought he could not pull it off.
In New York last night, Twitter shares were up more than 6 per cent at $52 (£41) after Twitter agreed to the takeover.
Earlier in the day, Musk tweeted: ‘I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.’
Shares remained below Musk’s $54.20 offer price, hinting shareholders still have reservations about his ability to get the deal done. In particular there are questions over whether investors will accept the offer price, given that shares had traded as high as $70 (£55) at the back end of last year.
Many analysts believe shareholders will only accept a bid valued at a minimum of $60 (£47) a share.
Others are worried about what direction the platform will take should it fall into Musk’s hands.
Founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, the platform prided itself as a bastion of free speech.
However it came under heavy criticism for banning former president Donald Trump in January 2021 and for trying to silence prominent Republicans.
Musk has vowed to overhaul its content-moderation policies and promote what he described as free speech on the platform. He also pledged to remove automated spam accounts, or ‘bots’, by ‘authenticating all humans’.
The deal could see the end of Twitter’s current management team, who Musk has said is incapable of turning around the company. There are questions in particular over whether Twitter’s new chief executive Parag Agrawal will stay on.
Mr Agrawal, who took over in November, has a history with Musk. In December, Musk compared Mr Agrawal to Joseph Stalin, superimposing his face on a famous photo of the Soviet dictator over his approach to free speech on the site.
Mr Agrawal publicly hit back over Musk’s bid, describing the entrepreneur as a ‘distraction’, telling Twitter’s supporters to ‘tune out the noise’ and focus on the site’s work.
He said last night: ‘Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.’