Chennai: In one of the world’s biggest deals in the tech world, billionaire and Tesla co-founder Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter. The deal will see Musk acquire the social network for approximately $44 billion with shares valued at $54.20.
Investors will receive $54.2 for each Twitter share they own, the company said in a statement Monday. The price is 38 per cent more than the stock’s close on 1 April, the last business day before Musk disclosed a significant stake in the company, sparking a share rally.
‘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 the statement.
The all-cash deal is expected to be completed later this year. Musk secured $25.5 billion of debt and margin loan financing and will provide about $21 billion in equity to fund the deal, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Twitter chief executive officer Parag Agrawal told employees that the future of the social media firm is uncertain after the deal to be taken private under billionaire Elon Musk closes. He was speaking to a town hall meeting that was heard by Reuters.
‘Once the deal closes, we don’t know which direction the platform will go,’ Agrawal said.
In a tweet, Agrawal said, ‘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.’
Musk has already proposed plans to take Twitter private. He had also tweeted recently, ‘If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!’ followed by another post which said he would want all humans on the platform authenticated.
The Tesla co-founder has also spoken in the past about an ‘Edit Button’ on the platform and in fact even held a poll, where he deliberately misspelt yes and no, presumably to highlight that an edit button is needed given the typos that people tend to make while tweeting. It should be noted that Twitter has already confirmed it will introduce an Edit button.
Going private marks a dramatic turnabout for a company that got its start as a messaging service for sharing your status updates with friends, but quickly blossomed into a way for people to broadcast short posts of 140 characters or less to a public following.
Under Agrawal, who took over as Twitter CEO late last year, the company has 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.’
‘The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders,’ noted Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair.