Musk buys Twitter, says he hopes "worst critics remain"
Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk has bought Twitter for $44 billion, and both supporters and critics have their say on the matter.
Elon Musk's "best and final" offer to purchase Twitter at $54.20 per share has been accepted by the Twitter board. In total, he will be paying $44 billion in cash to acquire the 15th largest social media platform by monthly users, according to a Statista study earlier this year.
Musk responded to the news by praising Twitter's ability to be a digital town square, and says that he plans to increase features, make algorithms open-source, and authenticate all humans.
Bloomberg reported that Twitter has locked down all work on product features and changes after announcing the sale.
Jack Dorsey says Elon Musk is the "singular solution"
As news filtered out of the acquisition, everyone had an opinion on whether this was good or bad for the company and society in general.
Jack Dorsey, Co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, said that he believes Twitter should not be owned by anyone. However, he did believe that Musk was a "singular solution" that he could trust.
Dorsey also mentioned that a strong positive of this move is that it takes the company out of Wall Street's hands.
He said, "Twitter as a company has always been my sole issue and my biggest regret. It has been owned by Wall Street and the ad model. Taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step."
Parag Agrawal, Dorsey's choice for CEO when he left the position five months ago, has been left in the dark about what comes next. In a townhall with employees, Agrawal mentioned that he is unclear about what the company's direction will be, especially regarding how radically open Musk wants to be.
"Once the deal closes, we don't know which direction the platform will go," Agrawal said, referring to a question regarding Trump returning to the platform. "I believe when we have an opportunity to speak with Elon, it's a question we should address with him."
Regardless of what happens next, Agrawal's five months at Twitter may be the most lucrative five months of his career. Including a payout of his entire year's salary plus accelerated vesting of his stock options, Agrawal could be due up to $42 million if he is terminated following the acquisition.
According to Reuters, political analysts in America believe that Musk's return to power could signal a return to the platform for former US President Donald Trump. Trump was banned after supporting the January 6 Capital riots in 2021, and Musk's idea of radical free speech could lead to his return.
Addressing the issue himself, Musk said that he welcomes all free speech, and hopes that even his "worst critics remain on Twitter."
Despite all the social and political volatility around this acquisition, Wall Street seems to be clear about its belief in the move. NASDAQ rallied up 1.69 percent at the end of the day following the acquisition announcements, while Twitter's share price was up 5.6 percent.
At the moment, Twitter's share price is $51.70, only dollars off Musk's final offer of $54.20 per share. It had been trading at around $39 per share in March when Musk's initial 9.2 percent purchase was revealed.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta