Elon Musk is buying twitter.
The social media giant announced through a press release on Monday that the CEOs of SpaceX and Tesla would buy the company in cash for about $44 billion ($54.20 / share), a 38% premium over Twitter’s closing price on April 1.
“Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of democratic operation, and Twitter is a digital city square for debate on issues crucial to the future of mankind,” Musk said in a statement. “I also want to make twitter better than ever by enhancing new features, opening algorithms to increase trust, defeating spam bots and authenticating everyone. Twitter has great potential – I look forward to working with the company and the user community to unlock it.”
The announcement on Monday follows a series of twitter related activities over the past month by the world’s richest man.At the end of last year, twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who succeeded Jack Dorsey, made a statement in a press release. “The purpose and relevance of twitter affect the whole world,” he said. “We are very proud of our team and inspired by unprecedented important work.”
According to the New York Times, Musk’s acquisition will be the largest company privatization transaction in history.
BRET Taylor, chairman of Twitter’s independent board of directors, said in a statement: “the twitter board of directors has conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive evaluation of Elon’s proposal, focusing on value, certainty and financing.”. “The proposed transaction will bring a considerable cash premium, which we believe is the best way for twitter shareholders to move forward.”
Musk used twitter to talk to Seattle tech giants Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. On Friday, musk said on twitter that he asked gates whether the Microsoft co-founder was short selling Tesla shares. Earlier this month, Bezos responded to a tweet from musk about transforming twitter headquarters into a homeless shelter.