Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Takeover of Social Media Platform Twitter
Elon Musk officially acquires Twitter for $44 billion, transforming the social media giant into X Corp. after a months-long negotiation process that overcomes initial board resistance.
Elon Musk completes a massive $44 billion all-cash acquisition of Twitter, officially taking ownership of the social media platform on October 27, 2022. The process begins months earlier in January when Musk starts purchasing shares, eventually securing a 9.1 percent stake and becoming the company's largest shareholder by April. Although Twitter initially invites Musk to join its board of directors, he declines the offer and instead makes an unsolicited bid to buy the entire company.
Twitter's board of directors initially resists the takeover attempt by adopting a financial "poison pill" strategy designed to prevent a hostile acquisition. However, they ultimately drop this defensive measure and unanimously accept Musk's buyout proposal on April 25, 2022. The finalized deal results in the dissolution of the original Twitter, Inc. and the creation of a new resulting entity called X Corp.
Musk publicly outlines several ambitious goals for the newly acquired platform under his leadership. He states his intention to introduce new features, make the platform's algorithms open-source, and aggressively combat spambot accounts. Additionally, Musk frames the entire acquisition as a pivotal move to promote free speech on the internet.