Elon buys Twitter, and don’t be surprised to see “Muskitter” trending soon!
A new feather is added to Elon’s hat as the board of Twitter has accepted the $44 billion rather hostile offer from the world’s richest person after showing initial resistance and signs of rejection.
“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.
Elon Musk, who already owns a number of startups besides Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company, wants to steer the micro-blogging platform in a way it has already indicated in a few of his previous tweets.
Some of the media reports claimed that the board met on Sunday to discuss the buyout offer from Musk. While a majority of board members agreed to Elon’s offer, albeit with few conditions. The NYT reports that they then entered negotiations with Musk on Monday morning to iron out additional details, especially the timeline of closer and financial protections Twitter would receive in the event of a potential deal going south.
On April 14, 2022, the internet was abuzz with the news of Elon offering to buy Twitter. Twitter was quick to react and started showing signs of rejection though. Musk’s offer was initially criticized by critics because it undervalued the company, despite the fact that he offered a considerable premium on the current Twitter stock price.
The company, however, was quick to adopt a “poison pill” to keep Musk away from taking control of the company by buying stocks from large shareholders. Musk, who already owns 9.1% of Twitter, wanted to settle for nothing less after rejecting a seat on the board of directors.
There were many speculations and skepticism about Elon financing the deal as well. However, three days back Elon tweeted once again, informing the market that he has secured more than the required funds to buy Twitter, and is working on Plan B if the board of Twitter turns down his offer.
Meanwhile, Elon got unusual support from Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO of Twitter. Dorsey not just criticized the board but also indirectly put his weight behind Elon’s offer.
Elon’s strategy was clear; Bring the board members under pressure and get the deal through. He didn’t leave a single chance to attack the board, including endorsing a tweet that highlights the fact that the existing board members, collectively, don’t own a sizeable stake in Twitter. Hence, they are not aligned with shareholders’ benefits.
Sensing a great degree of excitement and unshakeable behavior of Elon towards the deal, Twitter decided to meet on an urgent basis on Sunday, which resulted in an acceptance on Monday.
The acquisition is expected to compete in 2022 and is subject to approval from twitter’s shareholders.
The deal also creates a shadow of doubts on Twitter’s CEO Parag Agrawal, who has been vocal in criticizing Musk’s attempt in past. Parag, who was elevated to the position of CEO in November last year, will walk away with a whopping $43 million if the new Twitter owner decides to shunt him out within 12 months.
Now the question is, will Twitter emerge as a completely different platform from what it is today under the radar and guidance of Elon who is well known for his aggressive strategies, and openly expressed his intention to delist Twitter from the stock market? Defeating bots and authenticating all real humans were some of the other eye-catching promises he made in his tweets.
The coming days are going to be more exciting. More details related to the Twitter acquisition deal are awaited.
