This is another twist in the Elon Musk/Twitter affair. The billionaire Elon Musk would have finally decided to buy the social network, facing the prospect of a long and expensive trial. What’s going to happen
Twitter buyout: Elon Musk is doing an about-face
Elon Musk has changed his mind (again). The billionaire sent a letter to Twitter yesterday, announcing that he wanted to buy the company at the agreed price of $54.20 per share. The buyout – which would cost Musk $44 billion – had been called off, with Musk citing the number of bots on the platform as a reason for the reversal.
But the prospect of a lengthy legal battle seems to have changed Elon Musk’s mind. His trial with Twitter was due to start in just over ten days, on October 17. But the billionaire communicated this new takeover proposal on Monday, according to information seen by the Wall Street Journal. The original price was accepted, a victory for Twitter.
Musk has not officially commented on the new move. He did mention, however, that the Twitter buyout would be used to create the ambitious X.com company, which he calls an “everything app. “
Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2022
Elon Musk has spent the last few months throwing fuel on the fire, pointing to Twitter’s systemic problems. But his loopholes have been closing one after the other and he can’t seem to find a way to dodge the buyout. It’s likely that he judged his chances of winning his lawsuit as too low.
Twitter’s share price soars
In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, Twitter’s share price (TWTR) rose 18% before trading was halted. This morning, the stock is up 23% over the past 24 hours:
TWTR share price explodes
Elon Musk, however, is getting back a social network that has been badly battered recently. In addition to this legal battle, the company has had to deal with the statements of whistleblower Peiter Zatko. The latter was particularly damning of Twitter, judging that the company was “deceiving” the public as well as politicians.
It’s not clear whether the takeover will go through – we’re never safe from another Elon Musk reversal. But it looks like things are well on track for the billionaire to become the new owner of Twitter
