Elon Musk’s $44 billion deal to get a majority stake in Twitter has been finalized and we have seen a slew of changes since then. The sale was finalized on 28th October and he has the majority stake in the company.
The Public vs Private debate
As of now, Twitter is a publicly traded company that has various shareholders and investors in it. With Elon Musk getting a majority stake in the company he plans to take the company private in the near future.
If this goes according to his plan, he will have to sell Twitter shares at $54.20 to the shareholders. This is 64% more than the price that he paid when he acquired a stake in the company. With the company being public and now moving to being private, Musk will have to shell out cash to buy back shares from them. Only when his shares remain he will be able to take the company private.
Why go private?
One of the main reasons for Elon Musk taking the company private is that it will give him full control over the company. He is set to reinstate Donald Trump and Kanye West’s accounts and also slash the workforce by at least 75%.
He has already gotten rid of the Board of Directors and appointed himself as the CEO of the company. Elon Musk is no stranger to controversy and has been in the news for one reason or the other. He was recently again in news all thanks to his recent antics at the Twitter office.
He was seen roaming in the Twitter HQ with a sink, a play on the pun ”Let that sink in”. The internet has been quick to jump on the trend and make memes out of the whole situation.
“Free Speech” and the $8 “Blue Tick”
Musk has also made it a free speech platform with no censorship, unlike what Twitter used to be like. Some people have supported the decision while others have criticized the lack of moderation on the website.
He has also made the blue tick available to people at a subscription of $8 per month that people can avail. He tweeted about giving power back to the people and said that the blue tick is now available to people all over the world.
In the end
With Elon Musk at the helm of Twitter, it will be interesting to see what happens next. He will usher in a new era for the platform, for better or for worse.
