Twitter accepted Elon Musk ‘s final offer to buy 100% of the shares of the social network. The operation required an outlay of 44 billion dollars.
It finally happened. Elon Musk acquires all the shares of Twitter , the social network founded by Jack Dorsey, in an operation valued at 44 billion dollars , according to sources close to the operation. With this, the South African businessman adds a digital platform for interaction to his empire.
Through his official account, Elon Musk mentioned that he hopes his critics stay using Twitter, as a sign of freedom of expression: “I hope that even my biggest critics stay on Twitter, because that’s what freedom of expression is about,” he said. . The acquisition, if approved by regulators, would be one of the largest in the history of technology companies, and the first to feature a millionaire outlay from the accounts of a single person.
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
For current Twitter president Bred Taylor , the board had “carried out a thoughtful and comprehensive process to evaluate Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty and funding. The proposed transaction will generate a substantial cash premium and we believe it is the best way forward for Twitter shareholders.” Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has mentioned that there is a clear purpose in the social network to impact the entire world, and that he is proud of the team he leads:
Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important. https://t.co/5iNTtJoEHf
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 25, 2022
Concerns about Elon Musk and Twitter
On April 14, Elon Musk submitted an offer to acquire Twitter valued at 43 billion dollars, an amount that established the price of the company’s shares at 54.20 dollars. Since that date, various analysts have looked at the movement with concern, both on the side of the SpaceX CEO and on the social network.
In the case of the businessman, specialists point out that this movement could cause a greater burden on Musk’s attention, at a time when SpaceX maintains activities with NASA for space exploration and when Tesla opens two gigafactories in Berlin and Texas. That, without counting the billionaire’s plans for Neuralink, Starlink, Open AI, The Boring Company and other companies in which he has an active participation.
In the case of Twitter, the concern lies in the need to make these assets profitable as a private company, since it will not have the possibility of selling participation to investors. In order for Musk to recover his investment, Twitter must generate higher profits than current revenue, up to 1.4 times the volume of current revenue.
Elon Musk’s plans for Twitter
During the last weeks, Elon Musk has not reserved details regarding the future of Twitter under his administration. In addition to having <permanent activity in his official account of more than 83 million followers, Musk has been clear about certain conditions of the company.
Turn Twitter into a private company
This is not a secret, but a public statement by Musk. The businessman’s intentions are to turn Twitter into a private company and to be able to apply changes without pressure from shareholders. Despite this idea, Musk has reaffirmed his desire to keep those partners who wish to remain as investors in the company, once it goes into the private sector.
The functions of editing tweets
Elon Musk has conducted surveys from his Twitter profile about the use of certain functions. One of those questions pointed to the inclusion of a “button to edit tweets”, a tool that was suggested by Twitter as an April Fools’ joke, but later confirmed by the same social network to be included in the Twitter Blue subscription package. .
Open source and on GitHub
This is another of the ideas shared by Musk. With the acquisition, the CEO of SpaceX would ensure the passage of Twitter ‘s code to an open repository and allow anyone to recommend changes and features, giving developers the freedom to alter the structure of the app to implement viable solutions.
verified accounts for money
Twitter verified accounts have been part of a sustainable police of recognition of personal or business accounts based on their relevance on the network. However, Musk left open the possibility of adding profile verification to Twitter Blue , the subscription system, and allowing the sole payment of this service to be a guarantee for the authentication of an account.
More subscriptions, less ads
Another issue to be defined is the change in the monetization model of Twitter, which currently receives 90% of its income through advertising on the platform. For Elon Musk , this is a necessity in the face of the push for a subscription model, which would eliminate the system of ads between tweets. In addition, the ability to reduce expenses led the businessman to propose personnel reduction and closure of offices, such as the one in San Francisco. Another measure was to eliminate the salary of the board of directors, a move that would save the company about 3 million dollars a year.
longest tweets
While Twitter extended the text capacity from 140 to 280 characters, Elon Musk mentioned the possibility of adding “long tweets” to the platform. This, in response to a long thread submitted by Yishan Wong, former CEO of Reddit, who commented on the millionaire’s possible acquisition of Twitter.
Preserving “freedom of expression”
Elon Musk has previously mentioned that Twitter is the “de facto town square” and that an inclusive ground for freedom of expression should be provided. This, as a comment regarding the measures taken by the social network to control disinformation, which led to the definitive blockade of former President Donald Trump at the beginning of 2021 . Musk has pointed out that Twitter should inform the user about the measures imposed and that greater transparency is required.