After many twists and turns, Twitter’s board of directors has accepted Elon Musk’s takeover offer.
It’s official, that Twitter has accepted Elon Musk’s offer, giving the world’s richest man control of the influential social network. The deal marks the end of a dramatic streak and a sea change for Twitter, where many executives and board members initially opposed Elon Musk’s takeover approach. The agreement tore employees, users, and regulators apart.
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The takeover, if it goes through, would mark one of the largest acquisitions in web history and will likely have global repercussions for years to come. Elon Musk, who is also chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, must find a way to balance his engagement on a platform that struggles to balance free speech with moderation.
The end seems near. If you haven’t followed the Twitter-Elon Musk soap opera, we’ve summarized it for you. After acquiring just under 10% of the shares of the social network and refusing a position on the board of directors, Elon Musk offered to buy 100% of the shares of Twitter.
“ Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it, ”announced the boss of Tesla and SpaceX, seeking to take full control of the platform by paying more than 43 billion dollars in cash to acquire all the shares. The board of directors of Twitter had started by blocking the billionaire by carrying out a strategy known in the business world as the “poison pill”. Finally, its members seem to have changed their minds.
THE OFFER WILL PROBABLY BE ACCEPTED
According to Reuters, Twitter could announce the deal at $54.20 per share on Monday, April 25, or $44 billion in valuation, once its board meets. Note that it is always possible for the deal to fall through at the last minute.
Very close to Jack Dorsey, founder and former leader of the little bird social network, Elon Musk has never hidden having a clear and ambitious project for Twitter. And he even shared it in early April 2022:
I invested in Twitter because I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech worldwide, and I believe that free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy. However, since making my investment, I now realize that the business will not thrive or serve this imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be turned into an unlisted company. Accordingly, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a premium of 54% to the share price (…) My offer is my best and last offer and if not is not accepted, I will have to reconsider my position as a shareholder.
A position that had scared Twitter employees. Fearing that the company’s philosophy would be abused by Musk, in particular, that he would bring back the “banned” like Donald Trump and many members of Qanon if he was in charge, the employees had stepped up to the plate, demanding, in particular, a “ Ask me anything ” question-and-answer session with the future board member, as is customary at Twitter.
The leaders of the company are accustomed to complying with the exercise introduced by Jack Dorsey and submitting to questions from employees. A future member of the board, Elon Musk could therefore be invited. He chose to renounce the invitation in the company of the current leader Parag Agrawal, as well as his chair, not to submit to it, it was whispered internally. Conversely, the preferred to come back in force with his global offer to sit like a big boss.
Forbes unveiled earlier this month, the ranking of the 10 richest people in the world. Elon Musk is amassing the biggest fortune of all time, well over the $200 billion mark. He is followed by Jeff Bezos and the Frenchman Bernard Arnault.
