CEM REPORT | Elon Musk has finally struck a deal with the most influential social media platforms, Twitter, handing him personal control.
The according to Channels Tv the deal worth $44 billion was sealed on Monday between the world’s richest man and the social media company.
Twitter confirming the deal said, “The publicly traded firm will now become a private company owned by Musk, who negotiated a purchase price of $54.20 per-share,”
Musk had earlier revealed his motive to acquire the platform to make it better through several strategies.
“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.”
He added that, he wants to reform what he sees as the platform’s over-zealous content moderation.
“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 released by Twitter.
Musk, had earlier in April bought a nine-percent stake in Twitter, then offered to buy the whole company outright, citing a mission of preserving free speech.
The buy which came with several saga and hositle takeover threats saw Musk in the preceding week present a bid worth about $46.5 billion.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, predicted earlier that since the board could not find another buyer, it would likely accept his offer.
“This basically put (their) back against the wall, they had to come to the negotiation table,” he said in an interview on CNBC.
Musk’s bid raised hopes about the commercial potential of Twitter, which has struggled to achieve profitable growth despite its influential spot in culture and politics.
[READ ALSO] Russia’s Oil: UK License Gazprom for Gas Payment
Twitter’s board which initially said it was reviewing his offer, surprisingly rebuffed him and adopted a “poison pill” plan that would make it almost impossible for anyone especially Musk to acquire a controlling position.
Despite Musk’s wealth, eyebrows raised concerning financing as much of his holdings are in Tesla shares rather than cash.
Musk in a filing pointed to a $13 billion debt facility from a financing consortium led by Morgan Stanley, a separate $12.5 billion margin loan from the same bank, as well as $21 billion from his personal fortune as being behind the deal.
Agrawal, who took over as Twitter CEO late last year,, made progress on new monetization features, such as subscription products, Truist securities said in a note, adding that “short term, Musk’s involvement at this stage runs the risk of disrupting those efforts.”
Musk’s bid had also met negative reaction among technology and free-speech experts, pointing to Musk’s unpredictable statements and history of bullying critics as contradictory to his stated aims.
Recall that former US president Donald Trump made twitter his podium before he was banned from the platform.
President Progressive group Media Matters for America, Angelo Carusone in a statement. warned that Trump, who was banned from Twitter after last year’s assault on the US Capitol by his supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, could return if Musk’s purchase goes through.
“Any negotiations to sell Twitter to Musk must include clear enforceable mechanisms to uphold and maintain existing community standards, including the removal of those who violate those standards,”
