Elon Musk has completed a $ 44 billion acquisition of Twitter, according to an investor in the company.
Twitter’s CEO and CFO reportedly left their positions soon after the deal was completed. On Friday, he was supposed to start hearing a case about Musk’s withdrawal from the deal.
This deal marks the end of the dramatic story of the American billionaire’s takeover of the popular social media platform.
On Thursday, Musk tweeted that his Twitter search was “not about money” but about “serving humanity”.
According to US media, Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal and CFO Ned Segal are no longer part of the company.
Trading in the social media platform’s shares will be suspended on Friday, according to the New York Stock Exchange website.
Musk previously said the Twitter purchase was “to help humanity” and that he wanted “civilization to have a common digital arena.”
Earlier this week, Musk tweeted a video of himself walking to the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco carrying a sink, commenting, “Let’s make up!”
Many analysts have argued that the price Musk is now paying for the company is too high given the falling values of many tech stocks and Twitter struggling to attract users and generate growth.
In a recent earnings call, Musk, the founder of Tesla, said that Twitter is “an asset that has been a bit weak for a long time, but has enormous potential.”
Long way to bargain
Musk’s early investments in Twitter didn’t get public attention. But in January he started making regular stock purchases, so much so that by mid-March he had acquired a 5% stake in the company.
He was revealed to be Twitter’s largest shareholder in April. An agreement was finally reached by the end of the month to buy the company for $ 44 billion.
He said he intends to get rid of the fake accounts and keep the platform as a place of free speech.
But in mid-May, Musk, an active Twitter user, began to change his mind about the deal, revealing his concerns that there were more fake accounts than Twitter announced.
Musk also changed his Twitter profile to “Twitter Chief”.
In July he announced that he wanted a longer period of time to finalize the acquisition of the company. However, Twitter said the billionaire is legally obligated to buy the company.
Twitter eventually sued to get Musk to complete the deal.
But in early October, Musk relaunched plans to take over the company as long as legal proceedings against him were temporarily suspended.
photo released, Elon Musk
Musk visited the Twitter headquarters with a sink, indicating his intention to make drastic changes to the company
Musk, a self-described “free speech advocate,” criticized Twitter’s content management policies.
Some users, especially right-wingers in the United States, argue that conservative voices are being censored on the platform, an allegation denied by Twitter.
Former US President Donald Trump is still banned from the platform and his account is suspended, a decision Musk previously called an “idiot” and would have canceled it.
But there are those who fear that the platform’s lax content policies may allow for the spread of hate speech.
In a tweet to advertisers on Twitter, Musk said the platform cannot become “a free, abusive arena for all” and should be “warm and welcoming to all”.
As the owner of Twitter, it is widely reported that Musk is planning to make significant staff cuts. However, Bloomberg reported that the American billionaire denied that he would get rid of 75% of his employees in a meeting with them.
But working on Twitter could get harder. Musk previously tweeted that employees should expect a “strict” work ethic.
The entrepreneur also posted that his plans for Twitter include an all-in-one “X” app, which Musk wants to make Twitter like him.
Some suggest this could be something along the lines of the hugely successful Chinese app WeChat, a kind of “super app” that includes various services including messaging, social media, payments, and food orders.
