Elon Musk Offers to Buy Twitter

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced late last week that he wants to buy Twitter. He has claimed that he wants to restore the social media platform’s commitment to “free speech.”

Musk has insisted that he is not interested in making money from Twitter. Rather he said his motivation is to have a “public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive.” He continued, saying that it is “extremely important to the future of civilization.”

Twitter has a long history of suspending accounts for violating the terms and conditions. These standards prohibit violence, hate speech and harmful misinformation.

Musk has repeatedly said he wants to unlock Twitter’s “extraordinary potential.” However, others are skeptical. Many are accusing Musk of purchasing Twitter for a publicity stunt or are questioning how he can come up with nearly $42 billion for this deal.

Despite Musk being the world’s wealthiest man according to Forbes, much of his wealth is in Tesla stock. He owns approximately 17% of Tesla, according to FactSet. That is valued at more than $1 trillion. He also owns his privately held space company, SpaceX. So, it is unclear what Musk’s true monetary value is.

While the $42 billion offer is more than Twitter’s current valuation of approximately $34.4 billion, a transaction like this will require more than just a high bid. It will require careful analysis of investor feedback about the company’s future if this purchase is accepted.

“I’m not sure I’ll actually be able to acquire it (Twitter),” Musk admitted on Thursday afternoon about the deal.

Others have accused Musk of purchasing Twitter to make money. He repeatedly denied this statement.

“This is not a way to make money,” Musk said on Thursday at a live TED Talk. “My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”

As for Twitter, its next steps are uncertain. They need to hire bankers and investors to review Musk’s deal.

Scott Kesler, a Third Bridge technology, media and telecom analyst, said that this deal might arouse other possible buyers.

“It seems that if would-be buyers and/or financial buyers are interested in Twitter, they should probably engage now,” Kesler said in an interview with Time.com.

Musk has called this his “best and final offer.” He has also vowed to reconsider his 9% stake in the company if his bid is rejected. But several analysts are having a hard time believing he won’t budge. Musk recently rejected a seat on Twitter’s board of directors and then tweeted a string of insults about the company to his 81 million followers. He may need to reconsider his goal of sole ownership of the company. Instead, he says that he will structure the deal around a consortium of shareholders. “We’ll try to bring along as many shareholders as we’re allowed to,” Musk said.