It didn't take long for Elon Musk to buy out Twitter for a whopping $44 billion. At the beginning of April 2022, the Tesla boss had bought up 9.2% of Twitter. Twitter vehemently opposed Musk buying up even more shares. But less than a month later, the Twitter board changed its mind.
Twitter is now owned by Elon Musk; Image: Fox Business
The rumors were just bubbling away on Monday, April 25, 2022. Several news portals, such as BBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times and many more claimed that a deal could be closed on the same day. Then, when the deal was done, Twitter really exploded with different opinions. Here are a couple of our favorites:
Promptly after the meeting, Musk had published a tweet saying that he is making Twitter better than ever and will publish the algorithm to create more trust to users. Also, he had announced that he will make Twitter Blue available for three dollars a month worldwide (with local currency, prices may vary by country). Those pesky bots that each add you to a list for crypto wins will also be banned with by requiring each user to be authenticated as a human.
The most important thing though is that there will be less censorship on Twitter to create free speech. Donald Trump was a user of Twitter until he attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and was subsequently banned from all major social media platforms. It is still unclear whether Trump's account will now be reactivated. However, the former president said in an interview that he is unlikely to return to Twitter.
Why did Twitter change its mind so quickly?
The question we're all asking. Why did Twitter's board accept the offer when as recently as mid-April they said they didn't want Twitter to go private? Bret Taylor, Twitter's independent Board Chair, said it was the best way for Twitter's shareholders. However, Twitter planned to release its quarterly results from the first quarter of this year on April 28, 2022. Last year, Twitter delivered disastrous numbers with 20% less profit. Therefore, it is likely that this quarter will also have a decrease in profit. This means that the company is drastically losing market value and they would rather accept Musk's offer with a 30% bonus on top.
