Businessman Elon Musk reached an agreement to acquire Twitter for approximately $44 billion, the company reported Monday.
In news reports from early Monday, it was revealed that Twitter’s board of directors was negotiating with the owner of the Tesla company about the possibility of buying the social network. In the past week, Musk said it had secured $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the board to broker a deal.
The New York Times, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation, reported early Monday that the two sides were discussing details such as a timetable and fees to be paid if the deal doesn’t go through. Twitter had taken steps to prevent a purchase by making it prohibitively expensive. But the board of directors, seeing that Musk had secured the financing, he changed his mind, according to The Wall Street Journal, which was the first outlet to report the negotiations.
Read: Twitter and Elon Musk negotiate possible purchase of the social network
On April 14, the CEO of automaker Tesla offered to buy the social network for $54.20 per share, or about $43 billion, but did not disclose at the time how he would finance the acquisition. Last week, in documents provided to regulators in the United States, Musk He said the money would come from Morgan Stanley and other banks, putting up his stake in Tesla as collateral.
Musk has stated that he wants to buy Twitter because he doesn’t think the social network is living up to its promise to serve as a platform for free expression. In recent weeks, Musk has mentioned some possible reforms to Twitter, such as the relaxation of restrictions on its content – such as those used to suspend the account of former President Donald Trump – and the need to expel fake or automated accounts.
Musk He is the wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated value, according to Forbes magazine, of 279,000 million dollars. But much of his fortune is tied to shares in Tesla — he owns 17% of the company, according to FactSet — and in SpaceX, his space travel company. It is not known for sure how much liquid money Musk has.
