Business
Board Agrees to Elon Musk’s $44B Twitter Buyout Offer
Elon Musk’s Twitter buyout offer proved too good for the company’s board to refuse. Once shareholders demanded the board to examine, Musk knew it was a matter of time. Now, the question revolves around what Twitter’s new owner plans to do with the platform.
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Musk Buys Twitter At Nearly 40% Premium
After weeks of endless speculation, Elon Musk finally got his prize. The company’s board agreed to his Twitter buyout offer of $54.20 per share, or roughly $44 billion total.
Once Musk publicized the fact that he secured funding for his bid, shareholders had the board examine the offer. After all, Musk’s bid presented a juicy opportunity for the company.
Prior to the Twitter buyout rumors, the company is facing challenges in growing its value. The deal represents a nearly 40% premium in stock price compared to its price before Musk showed up.
However, even the $54.20 offer is far below Twitter’s $70 price last year. At least one major shareholder said that given enough time, the company’s value would have far been higher.
Jonathan Boyar, managing director at Boyar Value Group, holds a substantial stake in the social platform. Given enough time, “we would have made substantially more than what Musk is currently offering,” he noted.
However, he acknowledged that Musk came in at the right time with his offer. “If the public markets do not properly value a company, an acquirer eventually will.”
Twitter Buyout Means Company Will Privatize
In addition, Musk’s Twitter buyout also means the end of the company’s status as a publicly-traded company. Musk did not represent any group or company in his acquisition.
By privatizing the company, Musk will have full control over the social platform’s policies.
Twitter is one of the most popular social platforms available in the world today. However, the company is presently having problems managing the business side.
For this reason, Musk’s Twitter buyout was an immense sigh of relief for shareholders. Musk himself said that he bought the social company to help “the future of civilization”.
In a statement, Musk emphasized Twitter’s role in communication. “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy,” he tweeted. “And Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”
Musk implied that Twitter can now focus on its work instead of staying beholden to investors. The billionaire, currently worth $268 billion, emphasized he is not in it for the company’s earning potential.
“Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. I don’t care about the economics at all,” he said.
After Twitter Buyout, Where is the Company Headed?
Once the deal concludes, it’s all speculation on what Musk ultimately plans to do with his new company. Current Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said that “Once the deal closes, we don’t know which direction the platform will go”.
This early, some left-leaning activist groups fear that Musk’s ownership means a freer-for-all Twitter. This means that the platform will now depend less on moderation and more on free speech.
Liberals, in particular, also fear the reactivation of the accounts of banned politicians such as former President Donald Trump. However, Trump himself recently said he has no plans to return to the platform.
Free Speech Absolutist
However, Musk describes himself as a “free speech absolutist” that dislikes moderation. He earlier said that Twitter’s algorithm for prioritizing tweets should remain public.
He also expressed his distaste for the favored status of companies that pay for advertising. Earlier, Musk proposed add-ons to make the service more user-friendly.
This includes an edit button and an anti-spam feature to prevent bots from flooding the platform with mass messages.
Watch the Yahoo Finance news video reporting that Elon Musk tweets for the first time since buying Twitter to celebrate free speech:
Loading ...What do you think of Elon Musk’s successful acquisition of Twitter? Will this achieve the lifelong dream of a neutral social media platform? Or, will this just become Musk’s mouthpiece for his companies such as Tesla and SpaceX?
Let us know what you think. Share your comments below.
1 Comment
I do not know who the 2 idiots are who voted for”A private entity owning a social media platform ? Lots of that in China.” answer to todays poll. But the entire answer does not make any sense.
Since everything in China is government own. It might be own by an individual, but the government tells that individual how to run it. Just like our own government today is trying to do to us. Just goes to show you how uninformed some American citizens are today.
LIKE MY FATHER ALWAYS TOLD ME ” DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU HEAR AND ONLY HALF OF WHAT YOU SEE”
HE WOULD TELL ME TO ALWAYS DIG DEEP INTO ALL THE INFORMATION YOU COULD GATHER ON YOUR OWN. AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF WHAT IS THE TRUTH.
“NOT WHAT SOMEONE ELSE WANTS YOU TO HEAR, AS THE TRUTH.!!!!