Well, it’s official- Elon Musk has reached an agreement with Twitter to purchase the social media company for $44 billion. The news of the purchase comes after several days of headlines that ranged from the deal potentially happening, to the board of executives contemplating a “Poison Pill” defensive strategy. Ultimately the tides turned quickly in Musk’s favor, after he had brought together a finance package offering $52.40 per share.
What was behind Musk’s purchase of the social media platform? The billionaire CEO of Tesla has made a large presence for himself on the site and has expressed concerns over what he considers to be “free speech” on it. Musk believes that in order to ensure the platform follows along those line, it has to be privately owned as opposed to publicly. With the prospect of Musk being in control of the company itself, ultimately he would be able to set the policies and terms and conditions going forward.
What this ultimately means for Twitter is too soon to tell. Firstly, even agreed upon deals can still fall through before they’re officially approved and closed. Second, what Musk considers to be, “free speech” could very much differ from what others believe it to be. Prior to the official announcement of the sale, Musk tweeted out:
To his credit, that statement is very much true; criticism is a valid form of free speech. When it comes to things like deliberately spreading false information though about people and/or situations, then we’re entering into another territory where the word “free” doesn’t necessarily apply. This is where Musk’s critics are especially concerned.
Many things are still up in the air as this is breaking news. Once more details emerge, we’ll provide updates.
