After months of legal wrangling, Twitter’s $44 billion takeover by the eccentric South-African billionaire is now a fait accompli. Elon Musk inaugurated his reign by giving top executives at the social network their marching orders.
Musk, the richest man in the world and owner of Tesla and SpaceX, confirmed the deal on his own Twitter account. “The bird is freed,” the new CEO wrote on the very platform he had freshly acquired, thereby succinctly revealing both his stance on the company as he found it and his plans for it.
Earlier this week, Musk—in his trademark style—let the reality of the approaching deal ‘sink in’ by walking into Twitter headquarters with an actual sink. Soon after, the billionaire changed his Twitter description, so it said ‘Chief Twit.’
The takeover marks the end of a months-long slog. In April, Musk first entered a hostile takeover bid. Not at all receptive to ownership by Musk, the company’s board sought to prevent this from happening by employing a so-called ‘poison pill:’ by issuing more shares, they tried to drive up the price so that the billionaire would desist. Musk however persevered and a deal of $44 billion was reached.
Everything seemed settled until the end of May when Musk suddenly voiced concern. After disagreements about how many fake profiles were on the platform, the billionaire put the takeover on hold. The number of fake profiles, if substantial enough, would have affected Twitter’s profitability because such accounts, obviously, do not respond to ads. In July, Musk even broke off the deal altogether.
Subsequently, Twitter’s stock lost 12%, which compelled the company to go to court. By using the court, Twitter wanted to force Musk to complete the deal as agreed.
Yet, in an upset, just before court proceedings were due to start, Musk suddenly showed himself willing to comply with the deal, for the agreed amount of $44 billion. He, however, put as a condition that he would first raise the necessary funds and that Twitter would drop the lawsuit.
Twitter, in response, first wanted assurances that Musk did indeed have that cash to fork over, and did not drop its lawsuit. The case had been in limbo until October 28th and is now dropped, as Musk came through.
The new CEO immediately proceeded to fire top executives. CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and legal chief Vijaya Gadde are said to have already been shown the door.
It remains to be seen in which direction Musk will take the social network. Previous statements on the matter have not always been coherent. Yesterday, Musk tweeted out that he is doing it “for the future of civilization,” as a “common digital town square” is needed where a “wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.”
In trying to prevent a “free-for-all hellscape,” Musk emphasized that not just anything can be said “with no consequences,” while the platform would adhere to “the laws of the land,” and must be “warm and welcoming to all.”
All eyes are now on the former U.S. President Donald Trump, and whether his account—the most high-profile one to have seen censure by Twitter’s former regime—can make a comeback.
In May this year, the self-described “free speech absolutist” said he would reverse the ban, which (according to Twitter) had been invoked in order to reduce the risk of further incitement of violence after the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
It remains to be seen how many other dissident voices could possibly rejoin the flock.
