What Elon Musk’s $44B Buyout of Twitter Means for The Popular Social Media Platform
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So Elon Musk bought Twitter, now what?
After only a week of being Twitter’s largest shareholder, the multi-billionaire and CEO and chief of SpaceX, Elon Musk, decided to outright buy the company for $44 billion and break the internet in one fell swoop.
What the billionaire may do to the social media platform is anyone’s guess, but based on a statement released after the deal was reached where Musk called Twitter “the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated” and said he looks forward to tapping into the company’s “tremendous potential,” it’s reasonable to gather that there the Twitter we now know is no longer.
Here’s an idea of Musk’s new Twitter:
Twitter is Likely Going Private
In the recent past, Musks has shared that the changes that Twitter needs to make can only be done if the platform is privatized. In agreement with Musk’s view is Jack Dorsey, the co-founder, and ex-CEO of the platform, who Tweeted on Monday that it “has been owned by Wall Street and the ad model.” He followed that up by saying that going private “is the correct first step.”
Despite the sale going through with Twitter’s board, it still needs approval by shareholders and is subject to a regulatory review. CEO Parag Agrawal said he expects the deal will close in the next three to six months.
Whether Musks gets approval from shareholders mainly depends on whether his offer and plans for the company are the best they can get.
If they accept Musk’s buyout offer, they will be able to sell their shares for $54.20 each.
Twitter Will Become a Free Speech Zone
Musk’s main intention behind buying Twitter was to provide a platform that ensures “free speech.” There’s no word as of yet on how he wants to put this idea into practice, but he has been notably critical of the platform’s censorship.
He has suggested that there would be changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies and that he would lessen efforts to remove individuals who violate the service’s guidelines. Musk has also said that he hopes his acquirement of the platform doesn’t cause anyone to leave.
In addition to content moderation, the billionaire has also noted that he would like to:
- Add an edit button, which Twitter says is currently in the works.
- Have Twitter Blue subscribers pay with his favorite cryptocurrency: dogecoin.
No Layoffs… Yet.
At a company-wide town hall, Agrawal said that no layoffs are currently planned; however, “once the deal closes, we don’t know which direction the platform will go.”
