After innovations in road and space travel, Musk’s next stop is social media.
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has reached an agreement to buy Twitter for an estimated $44 billion.
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Musk previously became the social network’s largest shareholder after buying around 9 percent of its stock.
His current purchase is the largest acquisition financing ever put forward for one person. It is also one of the biggest leveraged buyouts of a listed company.
Here’s what Twitter users and other stakeholders can expect from this development.
Users
The chief executive officer of SpaceX and Tesla said that Twitter has tremendous potential that he looks forward to unlocking together with the company and community of users.
He has consistently mentioned “free speech” at the center of his buyout.
“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.
Specifically, he plans to improve Twitter with “new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.”
Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos, whom Musk unseated as the world’s richest man this year, has thrown support for his fellow billionaire.
“Musk is extremely good at navigating this kind of complexity,” Bezos said in response to speculation following the buyout.
Stockholders
Twitter will become a privately held company once Musk finishes his transaction.
Co-founder Jack Dorsey has since supported Elon’s goal of making the platform “maximally trusted and broadly inclusive.”
“In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level. Not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company, however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness,” Dorsey posted.
Under the terms of the agreement, holders will receive around $54 in cash for each share of common stock they own upon closing the transaction.
The Twitter Board, according to independent chair Bret Taylor, carefully assessed Elon’s proposal in terms of 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,” Taylor said.
Banner Photo by JD Lasica via Wikimedia Commons
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