Whelp, it’s finally happened.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, not to mention the richest man in the world with a net worth of $264.6 billion, is now the owner of Twitter.
He bought the social media platform for a staggering $44 billion, initiating a hostile takeover with a tender offer that even Twitter couldn’t turn down.
The effort recently came to attention when Musk became one of Twitter’s largest shareholders less than a month ago, and the was offered (but turned down) a seat on its board, and proceeded to make a bid on the company.
According to CNN, Twitter independent board chair Bret Taylor said in a statement:
“The Twitter board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing.”
Musk said on Twitter last night:
“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
He gave his reasoning behind making the bid in a offer letter to Twitter:
“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 need to be transformed as a private company.”
Needless to say, the move drew a plethora of comments from the Twitterverse:
https://twitter.com/MK5678456/status/1518680692154109955
