How Much Did Elon Musk Buy Twitter For?

Apr 26, 2022, 11:04 IST

It's official: Elon Musk has bought Twitter for $44 billion.

Elon Musk, a billionaire, has taken ownership of Twitter in one of the largest tech deals in history.

Elon Musk Buys Twitter: Elon Musk, a billionaire, has taken ownership of Twitter in one of the largest tech deals in history. Musk will pay around $44 billion for the social network, with shares valued at $54.20. On April 14, Musk revealed his takeover attempt, calling it his 'best and final offer.'

In a press release issued on his Twitter account Musk stated, “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 spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

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However, Twitter first put in place a "poison pill defence" against the hostile takeover. However, once Musk stated that he had obtained finance, the Tesla board entered into discussions with the co-founder of the company. Musk met “privately with several shareholders of the company to extol the virtues of his proposal” on Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal, and also made video calls to them to press his case.

“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means," Musk said earlier today on Twitter. It's also worth noting that Musk sent out a fairly obnoxious tweet about Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Saturday, ostensibly in retaliation to Gates shorting Tesla. More than a million people have liked the tweet. He then quipped that his tweet was being reviewed by the 'shadow ban council.'

On the platform, he has been a staunch supporter of 'free speech.' Musk stated, “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy." He also wrote in the filing, “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”

Musk has already floated the idea of privatizing Twitter. “If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!” he tweeted recently. Then came another post in which he stated that all individuals on the site should be authorised.

The Tesla co-founder has already spoken on the necessity for an 'Edit Button' on the platform and even ran a poll in which he purposefully misspelt yes and no, apparently to emphasise the need for an edit button given the frequent errors that people make when tweeting. It's worth noting that Twitter has previously announced that an Edit button will be included.