Twitter agrees Elon Musk takeover deal

theguardian.com:

Elon Musk has agreed to buy Twitter in a $44bn deal that will give the world’s richest man control of a social network with more than 200 million users.

The sale puts the Tesla chief executive in charge of a company that he has frequently criticized for not living up to its potential as a platform for “free speech”. Shares of Twitter rose 5% on Monday to $51.50 per share.

The deal comes after a dramatic few weeks of speculation about Twitter’s future, triggered by Musk’s emergence as the platform’s largest single shareholder on 4 April. He then declared a $43bn takeover bid on 14 April.

“Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world,” Twitter’s chief executive, Parag Agrawal, said in a tweet confirming the sale. “Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”

Agrawal will reportedly host an all-hands meeting for employees on Monday afternoon to address the news. The Musk takeover has been unexpected and controversial amongst Twitter employees.

Twitter’s board at first enacted an anti-takeover measure known as a poison pill that could have made a takeover attempt prohibitively expensive. But its initial reluctance to accept a transaction appeared to fade after Musk confirmed a funding package for the deal and shareholders warmed to it.

The company, which launched in 2006, currently has a market cap of nearly $40bn. Its co-founder Jack Dorsey stepped down as chief executive officer in November 2021, handing the reins to Agrawal, the company’s former chief technology officer.

Musk is himself a prominent user of the app, with 83m followers, and tweeted as early as 2017 expressing interest in buying the company. He has signalled that Twitter needs to be transformed as a