Elon Musk’s action on Tuesday is the most recent chapter in a saga that has stretched several months and began in January, when Musk began investing in Twitter.
The world’s richest man made an offer of about $44 billion, to acquire one of the most lucrative social networks in the world, but changed his mind and appeared to be backing down. A new turn in recent events reveals the shocking news of the proposal’s recent revival, apparently Musk refuses to quit.
The Twitter v. Musk saga dates back to Jan 20, 2022, when Musk first started to invest in Twitter. According to documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission in April. And by March he’d become the largest shareholder, with a 9.2 stake in the company.
In April this year Musk announced his Twitter ownership. His investment was valued at $2.89 billion based on the price of Twitter shares at the end of the previous trading day. The announcement saw a more than 27% increase in Twitter shares, and the next day Musk revealed that he’ll join Twitter’s Board of Directors. However, this sentiment is later recalled in a tweet by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.
“Elon has decided not to join our board. I sent a brief note to the company, sharing with you all here.” Said Agrawal
What led to the shift in thinking? If he remained on the board, Musk wouldn’t be allowed to acquire a stake bigger than 14.9 percent. Allegedly, he would have had to additionally stop posting negative things about Twitter as a hobby, therefore contradicting his plan of “free speech” Musk’s ingenious answer to this problem was to purchase the entirety of Twitter in a $44 billion deal.
The buildup culminates on April 14, 2022, when Musk proposes 54.20 per share, essentially valuing the firm at $44 billion. The offer represents a 38% premium over the price that prevailed the day before Musk’s Twitter stake became known.
Elon Musk announced on May 13 that his purchase of Twitter is “temporarily on hold.” Musk stated that he needed to determine how many spam and bot accounts are present on the social media network. And on June 6, Musk threatened to cancel his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, claiming that the firm had withheld information regarding its spam bot accounts from him.
Twitter quickly sues Elon Musk on July 12 to compel him to finalize the transaction, and Musk just as fast filed a countersuit, following a Delaware judge announced on June 16 that the Musk-Twitter legal case will go to trial in October.
This Tuesday, the Delaware judge requested a response from all parties outlining how they should move the matter forward. There are two possible outcomes: either Twitter asks the court to dismiss the case or they keep jurisdiction until the deal is finalized.
After, Twitter announced in an amended filing that Musk had agreed to proceed with his $44 billion offer. Musk wrote a letter that was included in the Twitter filing, stating that he “intends to finalize the deal” that was originally agreed upon in April.
In the letter, he also stated that he’d proceed with the transaction provided that he received the finance he’d initially arranged and that Twitter’s lawsuit against him was postponed by a Delaware Chancery court.
During a special shareholders meeting in September, Twitter’s shareholders authorized the sale to Musk. Allegedly. Musk and Twitter could reach an agreement as soon as this Friday.
The timing of his actions and the private texts that emerged during discovery made it obvious that Musk’s decision to cancel the purchase may have been motivated by Russia stepping up its assault on Ukraine, the economy tanking, or a desire to avoid embarrassing his friends on Wall Street.
But why does Elon even want Twitter? At first, Elon Musk flirted with the idea of starting his own social media platform: X, the everything app, and earlier this week stated that Twitter was an accelerant to achieving X, something similar to TikTok and WeChat, with many more highly engaged users.
In a clue at how he’d alter Twitter, Elon Musk says that after the uprising in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he would lift the platform’s ban on former President Donald Trump, calling it “morally terrible” and “very idiotic.” The billionaire very concerned with the ethics of free speech on the app, Further stating that he doesn’t like how it’s “failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermined(ing) democracy,” with its multitude of bots.
Although we don’t yet know Elon Musk’s exact plans for Twitter, we do know that this will usher in a new era of media and technology. And we can only hope it’s a prosperous one.
