After weeks of speculation and resistance on the part of the Twitter board of directors, Twitter has agreed to sell the company to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
It was just confirmed that Twitter agreed to sell itself for $54.20 per share ($44 billion).
Before the Twitter buy was confirmed, Musk tweeted that he hopes “even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
The Musk-Twitter saga began late last month, with Musk tweeting out that Twitter was the de facto public square and indicated that it needed to become a free speech platform or be replaced to defend democracy.
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?” Musk tweeted on March 26.
“Is a new platform needed?”
He then purchased a 9.2 per cent stake in the company and rejected a Twitter board seat offer, which many speculated meant that he intended to purchase more Twitter stock, if not buy the company outright.
At the time, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal wrote that he was “excited” to work with Elon but thought there would be risks with appointing him to the board.
“We were excited to collaborate [with Elon] and clear about the risks. We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company, where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward. The board offered him a seat,” Agrawal wrote in an announcement to employees.
“Elon’s appointment to the board was to become official effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.”
Days later, Musk made his first offer of $43 billion to buy Twitter, which the board considered but ultimately rejected.
Only time will tell what plans Musk has for the company.
