Twitter

2022 - 4 - 26

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Sky News"

Elon Musk's Twitter takeover expected to be agreed within hours (Sky News)

There is every chance that Twitter's board will have extracted an improved offer or terms from Elon Musk as an announcement on a deal is expected later on ...

According to the media outlet, both sides met on Sunday to discuss the proposal - and the social network "is more likely than before to seek to negotiate". Musk argues that the social network needs to be taken private in order to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech. He has offered to buy the social network for $43bn (£33.5bn) and placed the right to uphold free speech at the forefront of his argument for a deal, accusing Twitter of failing its users to date.

Elon Musk to buy Twitter for $44 billion (RTE.ie)

Twitter has confirmed it is selling the platform to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk in a deal valued at $44 billion (€41bn).

"I hope Elon buys Twitter because he'll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth," Mr Trump added. "I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth," Mr Trump told Fox News. "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Mr Musk said in a joint release announcing the takeover.

Elon Musk to buy Twitter for $44B and take it private (The Washington Post)

The outspoken Tesla CEO has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it's not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.

In one August 2018 tweet, for instance, Musk asserted that he had the funding to take Tesla private for $420 a share, although a court has ruled that it wasn’t true. Musk himself is a prolific tweeter with a following that rivals several pop stars in the ranks of the most popular accounts. Truth Social is part of Trump’s new media company, which has agreed to be taken public by Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC dropped 16.2% Monday and are down 46% since Musk revealed his stake in Twitter. Eventually he became CEO and led the company to astronomical success as the world’s most valuable automaker and largest seller of electric vehicles. Some users said Monday that they were planning to quit the platform if Musk took it over. It was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002. “Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech or falsehoods that subvert our democracy.” Musk said last week that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal. As both candidate and president, Trump made Twitter a powerful megaphone for speaking directly to the public, often using incendiary and divisive language on hot-button issues. Advertisers, currently Twitter’s main customers, have also pushed for the stronger content rules Musk has criticized. Musk believes he can increase revenue through subscriptions that give paying customers a better experience — possibly even an ad-free version of Twitter. On April 14, Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share.

Twitter kicks off deal negotiations with Tesla boss Musk: Report (Aljazeera.com)

Twitter's decision to engage with Musk shows it is exploring whether a sale is possible on attractive terms: Reuters.

In response, Musk has threatened to launch a tender offer that he could use to register Twitter shareholder support for his bid. Short term-minded investors such as hedge funds want Twitter to accept Musk’s offer or ask for only a small increase, the sources said. Twitter has not yet decided if it will explore a sale to put pressure on Musk to raise his bid, according to the sources. Twitter is also looking into whether regulators in any of the major markets it operates would object to Musk owning the company, the source added. Musk’s insistence that his bid for Twitter is his “best and final” has emerged as a hurdle in the deal negotiations, the sources said. The company’s decision to engage with Musk, taken earlier on Sunday, does not mean that it will accept his $54.20 per share bid, the sources said.

Twitter may want to finalize Musk deal before reporting ... (CNBC)

SpaceX founder Elon Musk reacts at a post-launch news conference after the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifted off on an ...