Elon Musk Completes $44 Billion Takeover of Twitter
Elon Musk officially acquires the social media platform Twitter for $44 billion, transforming the company into X Corp. The deal follows months of negotiation, board resistance, and Musk's rapid accumulation of company shares.
Elon Musk completes a massive $44 billion all-cash acquisition of the American social media company Twitter, officially concluding the deal on October 27, 2022. The resulting entity operates under the new name X Corp. as Musk takes full control of the platform and its future direction.
The takeover process begins in January 2022 when Musk starts purchasing shares of the company. By April, he becomes the largest shareholder with a 9.1 percent stake, prompting Twitter to offer him a seat on the board of directors, which he initially accepts but ultimately declines.
Following his board refusal, Musk makes an unsolicited buyout offer that initially faces strong resistance from Twitter's leadership through a "poison pill" strategy. The board eventually unanimously accepts his $44 billion proposal, as Musk promises to make the platform's algorithms open-source, eliminate spambot accounts, and heavily promote free speech.