After weeks of negotiations, on April 24, Elon Musk finally bought Twitter for $54.20 per share for a total of $44 billion. The move shifts control of the social media platform, which has millions of users and accounts of global leaders, to the world's richest man.
The deal reportedly ended one of the most high-profile bids in history for acquisitions and caused a stir in the business world.
Twitter Chairman Brett Taylor.
Twitter issued a statement on the same day saying it had reached an agreement with Musk to buy the social media giant for $54.2 per share in cash for a total price of about $44 billion.
The deal means the company will be privatized after the deal closes, possibly later this year.
Musk has invested $21 billion in equity, $13 billion from Morgan Stanley's debt financing, and another $12.5 billion from margin loans from the bank and other institutions.
On April 14, Musk announced that it was acquiring Twitter for $54.20 per share. Twitter stock prices have since risen sharply, but well below the high of $77 per share reached in February 2021.
Musk has said Twitter is a digital city square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. He wanted to "make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the new features of the product, making the algorithm open source to increase trust, defeating spam bots, and authenticating all humans."
Twitter CEO Parag Agravar.
After announcing that Musk would take the company private, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said he was "proud of our team and inspired by work that has never been so important."
Bret Taylor, Twitter's chairman, said "we believe this is the best way out for shareholders" and said the board has "conducted a deliberate and comprehensive process to evaluate Elon's proposal."
Twitter reportedly said the deal was unanimously approved by its 11-member board.
Text/Nandu reporter Chen Lin