The world's richest person Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has purchased the social media giant Twitter for $44 billion.
The tech billionaire acquired the social media company at $54.20 per share in cash, a buyout that was approved unanimously by the twitter board of directors.
Musk will also privatise the company meaning that it will be under his sole control, leaving the billionaire to dictate what can and can't be said on the platform.
Twitter's Independent Board Chair Bret Taylor said after the deal was announced:
"The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing."
Musk himself has promised to make twitter a 'free-speech zone' which could imply giving space to extreme groups and hate-speech. There is also speculation that he could reinstate the twitter account of former US president, Donald Trump, who is currently banned from twitter due to his inflammatory rhetoric.
Musk said:
"The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders. I want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spambots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it. 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."
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
Many will worry that the world's richest person can now control a huge amount of the world's information given that he himself has made questionable statements in the past on the platform. These statements include calling for the overthrow of the democratically elected Bolivian government to be replaced by a dictatorship, Bolivia is where much of the lithium for his Tesla vehicles is stored, and calling a man recuing trapped children in Thailand a 'paedo guy'.
[Based on reporting by: IBL news]
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