After withdrawing from the purchase of Twitter a few months ago, Elon Musk decided to come back at the table. He will pursue the same offer they ended up with.
The Elon Musk vs Twitter showdown was thought by many to have ended months ago, when the richest man in the world pulled out of the deal. Originally he planned on buying the social media company through a hostile takeover, after purchasing 9% of the company shares. Eventually, Twitter resentfully accepted his offer of 44 billion dollars and a board seat for Elon Musk himself.
Then, the deal was off after Elon Musk himself withdrew. In the last hours, however, Musk made a surprising U-turn announcing that he is going to pursue the deal with the same offer they finally agreed upon.
Elon Musk’s net worth is over two hundred billion dollars. He is one of the richest men in history, a fortune that comes from his many profitable companies like the car manufacturer Tesla, the online transaction PayPal and the space agency SpaceX.
Musk has always been an active user of Twitter, often making important announcements about his company or even controversial takes that started months of discussions. Most recently, his tweet about the “ideal” peace deal between Russia and Ukraine sparked outrage on the online community.
This deal with Twitter will be concluded almost single-handedly with Musk’s personal fortune. He will sell some of his shares of Tesla in order to acquire the liquidity necessary, and an additional 12 billion dollars will be leant by banks. The three biggest borrowers will be Bank of America, Barclays and Morgan Stanley.
The new face of Twitter
Elon Musk is set to change Twitter in an epocal cultural shift, according to several observers. He expressed many times admiration for the so-called “superapps”, mobile applications that allow the user to perform many activities with one single app.
The biggest of such apps is WeChat, owned by the Chinese company Tencent. Being the most used app on mainland China, WeChat allows you to purchase goods, order meals, browse the internet with a search engine and, of course, chat with your contacts.
It is not clear exactly how and when Elon Musk will attempt to transform Twitter into a superapp, as he will probably encounter much resistance within the rest of the board. China, after all, is not exactly famous for transparency and freedom of speech. Apps like WeChat are heavily controlled by the central government, which censors discussion on controversial topics like Taiwan or Tiananmen Square.
Are we sure we want to allow one single man to control what everyone in the free world is saying and doing?
