The social network has become a center of public discourse and a place for vital online debates.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has agreed to buy Twitter Inc. for $ 44 billion, the deal has every chance of becoming the largest acquisition in the history of technology. Investors will receive $ 54.20 for each Twitter share they own, with a total of $ 44 billion in the deal, the company said in a statement Monday.
“>Musk, one of Twitter's most popular users with more than 83 million subscribers, began earning a share of about 9% in January. In March, he intensified his criticism of Twitter, claiming that the company's algorithms were biased and the feeds were full of automated spam. He also suggested that the growth of Twitter users was inflated by bots. Rejecting an invitation to join the company's board, he offered to make Twitter private on April 14, saying it would “make the platform a bastion of free speech,” and hinted at other changes he would make as owner, Bloomberg reports.
Ideas have gone from practical – say, allowing users to edit tweets and combat the spread of bots – to unusual ones, such as the proposal to turn the company's San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.
The deal was unanimously approved by the company's board and is expected to be completed later this year. According to the statement, Musk, the world's richest man, has received $ 25.5 billion in debt and margin financing and will provide about $ 21 billion in equity to finance the deal.
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Although Musk has not outlined a specific plan to change Twitter's policy on moderation of speech and content, his acquisition of the company means that one of the most pressing problems of the Internet is now his own.
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The debate over freedom of speech on social media has been going on for years – some political conservatives say Twitter, Facebook Meta Platforms Inc. and other Internet companies have too many rules, while liberals do not believe that social networks go far enough to prevent hate speech. This is a conflict that has led to numerous hearings in the US Congress over the years and to a movement to change US online content laws.
The move to the private market marks a dramatic turnaround for the company. Twitter is now an integral part of the media image of politicians, celebrities and journalists, he has taken his place alongside fans of social networks Facebook and YouTube as a standard carrier for a new, more interactive way of using the Internet, known as Web 2.0.
