Asking the owners of Twitter to sell the firm less than three weeks ago, Musk indicated that the social network has enormous untapped potential that he can exploit for the greater good of users.
What’s the story?
Musk purchased a 9.2 percent interest in Twitter for $2.89 billion in April, making him the company's largest stakeholder. Discussions over the latest purchase escalated after Musk gained the company's shareholders’ votes after providing financial specifics for the transaction. In response to pressure from its current shareholders, Twitter came into talks with Musk, who offered $54.20 per share. When the news emerged, Twitter's stock price on the exchange increased by 6%.
As a result of the weeks long saga, Elon Musk has finally acquired Twitter for the proposed $54.20 a share — valuing the firm at roughly $44 billion.
What awaits Twitter?
Elon Musk has already proposed several changes, from limiting content restrictions to getting rid of fake accounts.
"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,” – said Musk, announcing his £35bn ($44bn) acquisition of Twitter.
Musk has previously said that Twitter could become paid for commercial and government users, while staying free to ordinary users.
How does Musk aim to boost revenues?
Reading between the lines of Musk’s public comments on Twitter, experts see a clear four-step plan for the social media company, similar to the one Musk had for Tesla.
1. Define what free speech means
2. Pitch new advertisers and retain existing ones
3. Take Twitter private and build out tools and products
4. Take Twitter public again and boost its profits to the moon
Although we can speculate on possibly more specific steps, there’s still not so much information around to make any conclusions.
Two things we can learn from this deal are: we have a chance to witness capitalism at its finest; and after the implementation of Musk’s plan, social media won’t surely be the same.
