Source of this article: Times Weekly Author: Qi Xin
With money and willfulness, Musk got what he wanted to buy Twitter.
According to media reports, on April 25, local time, Twitter announced that it had reached a final agreement with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk will wholly acquire Twitter at $54.20 per share, with a total transaction value of about $44 billion in cash, which is 38% higher than Twitter's closing price on April 1.
Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter will become a privately held company after the deal is completed.
"Twitter's board conducted a deliberate and comprehensive process to evaluate Elon's proposal and to focus thoughtfully on value, certainty and financing. The proposed deal would result in a substantial cash premium, which we believe is the best way forward for Twitter shareholders. Bret Taylor, chairman of Twitter's independent board, said.
Musk said: "I also want to make Twitter better than ever, by adding new features to enhance the product, making the algorithm open source to increase trust, beating spam bots, and authenticating everyone." Twitter has huge potential – I look forward to working with the company and the user community to unlock it." ”
Elon Musk
The news that Musk has acquired Twitter has also triggered a large number of netizens to discuss. "There's so much to give." Some netizens said.
In fact, even if it is not bad money, Musk's process of acquiring Twitter has not been smooth.
On April 4, data disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed that Musk held a 9.1% stake in Twitter, becoming Twitter's largest shareholder. Twitter then announced the appointment of Musk to the board for a two-year term that expires in 2024. During this period, Musk is not allowed to hold more than 14.9% of Twitter stock.
Musk responded that he would accept the position. "Looking forward to working with Parag (Ceo of Twitter) with Twitter's board of directors and making significant improvements to Twitter in the coming months."
But about a week later, Musk suddenly changed his mind and decided not to join Twitter's board. On April 14, Musk launched a Twitter takeover war, offering to buy Twitter's issued common stock at $54.20 per share in cash.
Subsequently, Twitter launched the "Poison Pill Project". The official name of the plan is "equity dilution anti-takeover measures", which was invented by martin Lipton, a well-known American mergers and acquisitions lawyer, in 1982, which refers to the company's large number of new shares issued at low prices, so that the proportion of shares in the acquirer's hands is reduced and the diluted equity is reduced, increasing the acquisition cost. Twitter's move is intended to block Musk's acquisition.
Judging from the final results, Twitter's "poison pill plan" obviously did not take effect. On April 26, Zhang Xiaorong, president of the DeepIn Science and Technology Research Institute, told the Times Weekly reporter that this may be because the price offered by Musk is relatively high.
The turning point of events came on April 21. Musk said it was ready for $46.5 billion in bond and equity financing to buy Twitter and was considering proposing a takeover directly to shareholders.
Twitter issued a statement on the same day saying that the company has received Musk's latest proposal, and the board of directors is "committed to careful, comprehensive and careful review to determine the course of action that best suits the interests of the company and all shareholders of Twitter."
On April 24, Twitter began trading talks with Musk.
Zhang Xiaorong believes that Musk may change the technology after the acquisition of Twitter, and the organizational structure of the Twitter platform may also be innovated from top to bottom.
As an active twitter user, Musk is a Twitter "influencer", since entering in 2009, he has gained more than 80 million followers, and his every move has attracted much attention. Zhang Xiaorong believes that as the CEO of Tesla, Musk's acquisition of Twitter will also have a certain impact on Tesla.
"Musk is very good at using these social platforms for public relations publicity, Twitter just happens to be another advanced marketing tool, his words and deeds on Twitter may have a very favorable impact on Tesla, it is easy to form some positive cycles." Zhang Xiaorong said, "Not only Tesla, but also many of Musk's plans in the future can be marketed through this platform, and these marketing costs will be very low." ”