Musk promises to make Twitter better than ever

Apr 25, 2022 21:59 GMT  ·  By

After previously purchasing 9.2 percent of the company, Elon Musk has now managed to buy Twitter completely as part of a $44 billion takeover that’s supposed to complete this year.

In an announcement today, Twitter announced that Elon Musk would be paying $54.20 per share, with the company to then become a privately held entity.

According to people familiar with the matter, the Twitter board held a private meeting earlier today specifically to discuss Musk’s offer. The official press release was released shortly after the meeting, as everybody described such an announcement as a simple matter of time.

“The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders,” Bret Taylor, Twitter's Independent Board Chair, explained today.

Making Twitter better than ever

In the press release, Musk explains that he will try to make Twitter better than ever, promising an increased focus on free speech.

Musk has previously used Twitter to specifically criticize the service, and now he says the platform will continue to evolve under this ownership with new features and further improvements on this front.

“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,” Musk said today. “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.”

Twitter is projected to reveal its Q2 earnings later this week, with the company explaining that it will not hold a conference call following today’s announcement.