Elon Musk buys Twitter

Elon Musk has purchased Twitter.

In what’s become the biggest “will they/won’t they” story since Ross and Rachel, the Twitter board has finally decided to accept Musk’s $44 billion takeover offer.

Early speculation on Monday morning led Twitter stock to rally after a weeks-long slump. Ironically, the stock’s recent decline in performance had been attributed to a lack of confidence in the Musk/Twitter deal.

That’s over with now, and we can expect stocks to take at least a short-term hike in the wake of the massive deal.

Where it started

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The whole kerfuffle began earlier this month when Musk purchased 9.2% of Twitter’s stock to become its largest shareholder.

Subsequently, the company offered Musk a board position in what most experts saw as a transparent attempt to stop the world’s richest man from purchasing more stock.

At first, Musk signaled his willingness to accept the position.  But he eventually declined before making a bid on the entire company. Why take a seat when you can grab the whole building?

Twitter was reportedly reticent to accept the deal. Initial reports indicated the company’s board had unanimously voted for and instituted a so-called “poison pill” policy to prevent a potential hostile takeover.

In the interim, it appeared Twitter might’ve avoided the buyout. There was even some speculation that a suitor who was more amenable to the status quo might come along.

However, as CFRA senior equity analyst Angelo Zino told CNN, it became apparent that a “white knight” wasn’t going to show up and top Musk’s offer.

Where it’s going

Now that Musk’s in charge, denizens of the internet’s most politically-divided social media network can expect some changes.

In a now-public letter to the Twitter board, Musk stressed his impetus to elicit wholesale reform within the company as a means of achieving his personal goals for the app:

I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy. However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.

Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.

I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022