To paraphrase, Elon Musk has ushered in a new age for Twitter. The internet business and the wealthy entrepreneur’s legal saga can continue. For almost a year, both sides in this legal dispute have been at each other’s throats. When Musk made a $44 billion offer to acquire the firm in the spring, it triggered a liberal meltdown on par with the explosion of Mount Vesuvius.
Apparently, Twitter needed to be more open to providing the information Musk requested concerning the incidence of spam bots. Then, Musk attempted to back out of the agreement, prompting Twitter to sue. Finally, Mr. Musk filed a countersuit, and the two parties ended up in court until the Tesla creator agreed to assume control. The Twitter CEO and CFO have been ousted (via Axios), which was only the beginning.
Musk will now have complete control over a significant international forum for free expression and social debate thanks to this deal.
According to the Wall Street Journal, he also forced out CEO Parag Agarwal and CFO Ned Segal. Both men were reportedly hauled out of the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
Before revealing his 9.2% interest in Twitter in early April, Musk had been in discussions with the firm since March.
The agreement to purchase the business was finalized before the end of April. In May, he started publicly questioning things. And in July, he made a formal attempt to leave.
Before Musk backed down in early October, the two had already gone through a lawsuit from Twitter and a countersuit by Musk.
Twitter shares traded for most of that period at prices considerably below Musk’s $54.20 per share takeover bid. There was a late September 6th closing below $40.
Musk still needs to provide a detailed plan for the future of Twitter.
Previously, he allegedly assured investors that he planned to lay off 75% of Twitter’s staff after the acquisition closed, but he has since confirmed that this will not happen.
Musk has stated that he wants free speech to be Twitter’s top priority, but he also plans to follow the law everywhere the company does business, even if that legislation restricts expression. He told advertisers on Twitter that the site “cannot become a free-for-all hellscape.”