Free Speech got a New Voice
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has agreed to pay $44 billion for Twitter (TWTR), the company revealed on Monday.
As a result of the agreement, Twitter will be a privately owned corporation with an average share price of $54.20.
Before the announcement, trading on Twitter was paused. Just after 3:30 p.m. EST, the stock was up 6%.
"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,"
"I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spambots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."
Musk said in a statement following the announcement.
During a turbulent few weeks, Musk became the firm's biggest shareholder, resisted the board's attempts to recruit him as a member, and launched a hostile takeover offer of the social media company.
In addition to Tesla (TSLA), SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink, Musk has added Twitter to his impressive list of companies.
Musk is a frequent tweeter who shares news about his businesses and thoughts.
It's not only politicians and opponents that he has to deal with on the platform.
The Securities and Exchange Commission previously penalized him $20 million for tweeting that he wanted to take Tesla private for $420 per share.
Musk asserted on Twitter that people working at the SEC's San Francisco office are:
"puppets of Wall St short-seller sharks,"
It was clear that he had enmity for the agency.
On Twitter, Jack Dorsey's best buddy, Elon Musk, often opposes the social network and its content control measures.
It's still unclear precisely how Musk plans to alter the social media platform.
When content moderation measures are eased, the corporation may open itself up to an onslaught of user-generated material that current and potential customers find unacceptable.
Advertisers may decide to leave Twitter if there are no measures to prevent their advertising from appearing next to hate speech or misinformation, which is still a concern even when content moderation policies are in place.
Because the company relies on advertising income may bring the whole social network to a screeching halt.
Musk hasn't promised to make any significant improvements to the platform, and that's to be expected.
The bulk of Twitter could remain exactly as it is if he took it, made a few changes, and then walked away.
Tesla's infrastructure still has to be built up, and the introduction of the cybertruck isn't far behind.
