Elon Musk, an eccentric billionaire who was the mastermind for several companies including world-renowned electric car company Tesla, has purchased Twitter for an astonishing $44 billion. This ends a long-time saga between the two sides, as Musk had originally offered to purchase the social media company earlier this year in April.
Both companies were unsure of what to make of each other, with Musk backing out of the acquisition numerous times. Musk had become the largest shareholder of Twitter at 9.2% and had originally planned to join the board of directors, only to decline at the last moment. He then offered to buy the company for $54.20 a share, which Twitter agreed upon. Only then did Musk back out and force Twitter to create several boundaries that Musk had to get through in order to have a chance of controlling the company, such as taking his case to court and creating a “poisoning pill” for 15% shareholders. Twitter would also threaten Musk’s involvement with the buying of the company in court, with their main argument being that he had “buyer’s remorse”, or the fact that he had paid too much to get the company.
Soon after the takeover, Musk fired off top ranking officials in the Twitter, including the CEO Parag Agrwal and CFO Ned Segal. These actions have been considered worrying for the 7,500 employees who predict that a storm of firings will occur.
Whatever occurs, Musk will transform the company of Twitter forever. Whether that be good or bad, the world will have to wait and see.
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/elon-musk-completes-44-bln-acquisition-twitter-2022-10-28/
Image Credits: Jim Watson/AFP/ (collage by TechCrunch) / Getty Images
