Elon Musk is about to acquire the social media giant Twitter and the internet has mixed reactions—is this a threat against free speech? What are his future plans for the company? Know more in the article below
A week ago, business magnate and billionaire Elon Musk has announced his bid to acquire Twitter and take it off of the stock market. This vision will soon come to fruition after the 11-member board of the platform unanimously agreed to his whopping US$44 billion dollar offer.
While Twitter is not the biggest social media platform, it enjoys the patronage of some 217 million daily users and has outsized role-shaping narratives across the globe. It's the hive of common people, celebrities, and the world's who's-who. Some even say that it has become the "smoking area of the internet," and this is true to an extent: you don't rummage Facebook or Tiktok for spicy takes, oftentimes you open Twitter and go on a like and quote retweet spree.
This is why the news about Musk's takeover caused quite a stir online.
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US$44 Billion Deal?
The Twitter board has agreed to sell Twitter for roughly US$44 billion, a 38 per cent premium over the company's share price before it was even revealed that Musk was the firm's largest shareholder. "The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing," Twitter independent board chair Bret Taylor said in a statement, calling the deal "the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders."
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