Earlier this month, Elon Musk acquired a 9.2% majority stake in Twitter, a move that took many by surprise. Musk later tabled an offer to buy the tech company for about $43 billion on April 14th. Twitter's board rebuffed Musk's overtures and enacted a poison pill defense that would make the purchase too expensive. Musk was however not to be denied.
On Monday, Twitter's board stated that it would accept a $44 billion deal from Elon Musk for the company following increased pressure from large shareholders. Musk is believed to have secured funding commitments from Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions.
In a statement, Twitter chairman Bret Taylor said, "The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty and financing."
Twitter shares rose 5.5% to $51.63 on Monday after news broke of the imminent takeover. A gap however exists between the share price and Musk's offer. Investors view this as a possibility that the deal could collapse.
But what does the takeover mean for the millions of Twitter users worldwide?
Elon Musk stated that he wanted to own Twitter because he thinks "it's not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech." Musk is expected to adopt a more hands-off approach to content moderation with full control of the company. However, this has left many worried that Twitter will be used as a platform for disinformation, something the company has worked hard to mitigate.
Musk has also announced his intention to introduce new features such as getting rid of automated spam bots and making its algorithms open to the public.

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Omani Joy

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