Elon Musk the new master and lord of Twitter: they accept purchase for 44,000 million dollars
, using one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history to privatize a 16-year-old social media platform that has become a hub of public discourse and a flashpoint in the debate over free speech online.
The founder of Tesla and richest man in the world thus becomes the owner of the platform that he considers as “the digital public square where issues vital to the future of humanity are debated,” according to the statement.
Investors will receive $54.20 for every Twitter share they own, the company said in a statement Monday.
The price is 38% higher than the stock close on April 1, the last business day before Musk revealed his significant stake in the company, prompting a rally in the shares.
Twitter’s operations were suspended following the news.
Elon Musk has been one of Twitter’s most prolific users for years. His huge fan base — 83.3 million right now — is one of the largest on the social network, and Musk has long used Twitter indiscriminately (and controversially).
His activity has been frequent, and among his messages there have always been some directed to Twitter as a platform: for Musk it seemed clear that Twitter had a great untapped potential, but it has been now when he has decided to try to do something to change things.