Background information
Twitter defies: Musk's billions unwanted
by Coya Vallejo Hägi
Elon Musk buys Twitter for 44 billion US dollars
26/4/2022
Translation: machine translated
After initial defensive measures, the time has come: Twitter is being taken off the stock exchange. The tech company will pass into the hands of Elon Musk for 44 billion US dollars.
The tug-of-war over the tech company with the blue bird has been decided: Elon Musk is taking over Twitter. The richest man in the world will pay around 44 billion US dollars. This became known on Monday evening.
As previously announced, Musk pays 54.20 US dollars per Twitter share and gives the shareholders a profit with the privatization. Namely, Musk is paying a 38 percent premium for Twitter shares compared to their value before his stake was announced.
What happens now
According to The Verge, CEO Parag Agrawal and Chairman Bret Taylor appeared before employees on Monday afternoon and fielded their questions. During the meeting, Agrawal informed that the acquisition process would take about half a year. No layoffs are planned at this time, he said.
"Once the deal is done, we don't know what direction the company will take," Agrawal is said to have replied when asked if Donald Trump would be allowed back on Twitter. It is also unclear whether and for how long Agrawal will remain CEO of the tech company. Confirmed, however, is that Twitter's board of directors will be dissolved.
What happened before
In early April, it was revealed that Musk had acquired a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter last March, becoming the tech company's largest single shareholder. Shortly after, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced that the billionaire would also take a seat on the tech company's board of directors.
But before the officialization, Musk again withdrew from the new role and instead doubled down with an entire takeover bid for the tech group. The latter responded with a "poison pill" measure to stop a possible takeover for the time being.
Over the weekend, Twitter and Musk now held extensive negotiations, which ended with the decision of a takeover.
These are the changes Musk wants for the social network
Musk favors the concept of "time outs" - meaning that should someone break the rules, she or he should only be banned for a limited time.
Another measure Musk has in mind is to make the Twitter algorithm "open source." The code that determines how Twitter works should be openly accessible on the Internet - like the Linux operating system, for example. With the public's insight, the platform should be able to be constantly improved.
Musk is also a self-confessed fan of the "Edit Button" - an editing function for tweets that have already been published. However, the tech company was already working on this feature before Musk's involvement.
Jack Dorsey is satisfied
«I want it all! The terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles!» – these words spoken by an iconic American TV celebrity could have been mine. It's a take on life I also apply to my job. What does this mean in concrete terms? That every story has its charm; no matter how small, large, exciting or trivial. The more eclectic the mix, the better.
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