Twitter has accepted Elon Musk’s offer to purchase the company for $44 billion, finishing days of contentious discussions between Musk and the company’s board.
In an SEC filing on Friday, Musk laid his plan for funding the deal, which includes $25 billion in loans and about $22 billion in personal equity. Analysts believe the loans could cost Twitter as much as $1 billion a year in service costs, or roughly 20 percent of the company’s annual revenue.
Shortly after Musk announced the buyout plan, Twitter’s board instituted a “poison pill” measure, suggesting it intended to resist Musk’s buyout. It’s unclear what led to the company’s change of heart. A New York Times report on Monday described Twitter employees as divided by the news, receiving little information concerning the ongoing talks.
It’s unclear what impact Musk will have on Twitter, or where he’ll start with changes. When he first disclosed his 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, he polled Twitter users on the creation of an “edit” button, which Twitter was already developing. He later suggested nixing ads from Twitter Blue, lowering its subscription price, and adding Dogecoin as a payment option.
Musk has been outspoken in his criticism of Twitter moderation, describing himself as a “free speech absolutist” and raising concerns over how the platform would moderate under his control. “It’s just really important that people have the reality and the perception that they’re able to speak freely within the bounds of the law,” Musk said in an interview with Chris Anderson during TED 2022. “I think broadly, the civilizational risk is decreased the more we can increase the trust of Twitter as a public platform.”
Musk originally offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share on April 13th. The offer followed Musk’s disclosure of acquiring a 9.2 percent stake, a move that made him Twitter’s largest individual shareholder at the time.
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