News hardware Elon Musk takes over Twitter: one of the biggest takeovers in tech history
Elon Musk, owner of Space X and Tesla, has just performed a historic act: it is the first time that a billionaire has bought out a social network, which is moreover for a record amount: 43 billion dollars.
It’s a soap opera that ends with a happy ending in favor of Elon Musk: after weeks of announcements, discussions, turnarounds, Twitter has accepted the billionaire’s takeover offer behind Space X and Telsa. Already the owner of 9.2% of the shares, he takes over the remainder at the amount of 54.20 dollars per share. The amount of the deal is estimated at $43 billion. The announcement was made via a press release issued directly by Twitter.
An economic soap opera started several months ago
For several weeks, Elon Musk has been making statements in support of this acquisition. With this acquisition, one of the richest men in the world does not hide it: he wants to make major changes for the platform, in particular in terms of freedom of expression, a subject which is particularly dear to him.
On April 14, Elon Musk therefore launched his offensive against Twitter: he made an official request to fully buy out the platform, at a price per share of $54.20. An amount 54% higher than that proposed at the end of January 2022, and 38% higher than after the announcement of the first share purchase.
A redemption at the historic amount
This acquisition of Twitter is historic in more ways than one: first, it comes from a person and not from a company. A bit like a billionaire offering himself a major media outlet, Elon Musk pays here for a platform of expression with considerable influence. He is indeed one of the largest Twitter users, with over 84.6 million followers.
The amount of the takeover, $43 billion, is also particularly high: it is one of the largest in the history of modern technology, far exceeding Facebook’s purchase of Whatsapp in 2014 ($22 billion) or that LinkdIn by Microsoft in 2016 ($26.2 billion).
The future of Twitter is now in the hands of one man, or almost. Company founder Jack Dorsey says Elon Musk is “a singular solution he trusts.” The current CEO of Twitter, Parag Agrawal, also wants to be confident, especially towards his employees, specifying that there were no layoffs planned “for the moment”. He will remain at the head of Twitter until the takeover is approved, but it is not clear what he will do next.
By JiikaaJournalist jeuxvideo.com
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