Twitter accepts buyout offer from Elon Musk for $44 billion

[phillynewsnow]

Twitter accepts buyout offer from Elon Musk for $44 billion



SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reportedly been interested in purchasing social media network Twitter for a while now. He made waves in the tech sphere when he became the site’s largest shareholder, which was then followed up by a larger bid for the entire company. Since then, Musk has reportedly been in negotiations to do exactly that, and now the deal has been confirmed.

Twitter confirmed on Monday that it has entered a definitive agreement to be “acquired by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk.” The deal is set at $54.20 per share in cash, with a total transaction value of approximately $44 billion. Twitter will become a privately-held company after the transaction is complete, meaning shares will no longer be traded publicly and Twitter will be de-listed from stock exchanges.

Elon Musk has repeatedly stated Twitter needs to go private, and has criticized the platform for “failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.” Musk doesn’t really seem all that interested in free speech, though. Tesla employee John Bernal was reportedly fired earlier this year after publishing reviews of the company’s self-driving technology to his personal YouTube channel, and back in 2018, an anonymous Tesla investigator claimed Musk doxxed him and threatened to sue. Musk also recently offered $5,000 to the owner of a Twitter account that tracks public flight data about his private jet for the account to be shut down.

The news comes only a few months after Jack Dorsey stepped down as CEO of Twitter after 16 years. He was promptly replaced by Parag Agrawal, who previously was Chief Technical Officer (CTO) at Twitter. Most of Twitter’s recent focus has been on cryptocurrency and NFT integration, with NFT profile picture support arriving in January. The company is also working on a functional edit button, which has been a long-requested feature.

Twitter alternatives have seen a surge in popularity with recent news of the acquisition, though only time will tell if the new rush of active users is temporary. Mastodon, the federated open-source social network that just released an official Android app, is currently experiencing slowdowns due to higher traffic.

Source: PR Newswire


The post Twitter accepts buyout offer from Elon Musk for $44 billion appeared first on XDA.



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