Twitter’sThe board accepted an offer by billionaire Elon Musk for the purchase of the social media firm and its privatization, according to the company.

This announcement concludes a long and frustrating saga Musk began when he revealed a significant stake in the company. Musk later changed his mind and announced that he would rejoin the board. Musk offered to sell the company for $54.20 per shared, as his final offer. This offer was valued at approximately $43 billion.

If the deal is closed and Musk becomes the owner of Twitter, he will control the company. He’s the richest man in the world and has been an outspoken critic of Twitter while also using the platform to post sensitive information about Tesla. Musk stated that his main interest in Twitter is in what he considers the company’s freedom of speech censorship. However, critics of Musk are rightly concerned that Musk’s dominance over Twitter will lead to the suppression of voices of others and the exclusion of those with whom he disagrees.

Twitter’s board attempted to resist a hostile takeover. adopting a so-called poison pill,A shareholder rights agreement that allows other shareholders to purchase the stock at a discounted price should Musk, or any other person, acquire greater than 15% of common stock. This plan would reduce the holdings of that individual, a common strategy to avoid unwanted acquisitions.

Two reasons seemed to be given by the board for rejecting this deal. Although the price was well below Twitter’s current share prices, the board felt that it was too high considering Twitter had just risen to that level.

Second, it wasn’t clear how Musk would finance the deal at first. Musk is still the richest man in the world, but much of that wealth is held in Tesla stock. Therefore, he would have to borrow from his assets to pay for the deal.

The offer was made more concrete when Musk stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, that he had offered to buy the company. received commitments for $46.5 billion to help finance the potential deal. This included $25.5 billion of debt financing through Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, and other companies. According to him, he had committed approximately $21 billion for equity financing.

Musk stated in the same filing that he is exploring an offer to buy shares of Twitter from shareholders.

Musk has a personal interest in Twitter because he uses it often. Musk’s interest in Twitter stems from his frequent use of the platform. TeslaSpaceX CEO SpaceX uses SpaceX’s large platform often to tell jokes, interact with his followers, or make business announcements.

He has been in trouble for it. After tweeting that he secured $420 per share of funding to make Tesla private in 2018, he was subject to an SEC investigation. In response to those tweets, Musk was charged by the SEC with securities fraud. Musk and Tesla came to a new settlement in 2019 over these charges, which Musk now wants to end.

Musk said at the TED2022 conference in VancouverMusk admitted earlier in the month that he had indeed secured funding at the time of his tweet. He also said that he was forced to agree to an unlawful settlement with the SEC. Musk’s remarks were denied by the SEC.

Shortly afterwards, a court filing from a class-action lawsuit by shareholders against MuskIt was revealed that Musk made false statements regarding the funding of his tweets by the judge who presided over the case.

Musk also spoke at the TED2022 conference about how he hopes to see the platform evolve under his control.

He said that he believed it was important to have an open forum for free speech. However, he acknowledged the need for content moderating to address explicit violence calls and to ensure compliance with laws within the country where the service operates.

Musk may be able to allow former President Donald Trump back onto the platform, if he says so. Twitter banned TrumpThe platform was removed by the author following tweets he made about the January 6 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.

After years of complaining about the censorship by major tech companies of conservative voices, some Republican legislators are excited at Musk’s ownership. Twitter, among others, has stated that they don’t censor ideology-based speech but rather enforce community guidelines.

House Judiciary Committee Republicans will meet Friday asked Twitter board members to preserve records related to Musk’s bidThis sets the scene for possible congressional probes and subpoenas if the party regains control after the midterm elections.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned for new updates.

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