Elon Musk struck a deal to buy Twitter for $44bn

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, reached an agreement on Monday to buy Twitter for $ 44 billion, ending a saga of serious threats to take over before giving him personal control of one of the planet’s most influential social media platforms.

Twitter served as a pillar for former US President Donald Trump before the platform banned it, and Musk – who identified himself as a ‘defender of freedom of expression’ – said he wanted to rectify what he considered the forum’s content to be extreme. volume.

“Freedom of expression is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is a digital public domain where important issues for the future of humanity are discussed,” Musk said in a statement posted on Twitter.

“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing new products and features, making algorithms an open source to increase credibility, win spambots, and validate all human beings.”

However, defense groups were concerned about what kind of content Musk could allow on the platform, and Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP civil rights organization, tweeted: “Don’t let Twitter be a box of hate speech, news “Our democracy is very important.”

Musk bought nine percent of the shares on Twitter in early April, then offered to buy the entire company, citing the commitment to preserve freedom of expression.

Although the company’s board had previously said it was considering its offer, it later rejected it and approved a “poison pill” plan that would make it difficult for Musk to secure a leadership position.

But last week, Musk – whose huge wealth stems from the popularity of Tesla’s electric cars as well as other joint ventures – said he had planned a $ 46.5 billion financing that included debt, … a modest loan and personal fortune.

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, predicted earlier today that since the board could not find another buyer, it was likely that it would accept his offer.

“It laid back (them) on the wall, they had to come to the negotiating table,” he said in an interview on CNBC.

The publicly traded company will now be a private company owned by Musk, who negotiated a purchase price of $ 54.20 per share, Twitter said.