Elon Musk, the highflying entrepreneur who is also the richest man in the world currently with a net worth of US$264.6bn, has sounded the gavel on his purchase of micro-social networking site, Twitter.
At US$44bn, it is increasingly evident that Musk – a free speech absolutist – will take the social media company private in a bid to fulfil his promise to reduce content policing and bring free speech to the 330mn-users-strong website.
In a joint statement with Twitter, Musk announced that he wants to make the service ‘better than ever’ with a myriad of new features and curbing spam accounts while generating algorithms open to the public to increase trust.
The billionaire, who also built up Tesla Motors and SpaceX, has openly criticised Facebook (a Meta company)’s censorship and hidden privacy policies, and at one point in 2020, called the platform ‘lame’ and asked his followers to delete their accounts on the platform.
In a tweet dolled up with rockets, stars, and heart emojis, the 50-year-old technologist said: “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.”
🚀💫♥️ Yesss!!! ♥️💫🚀 pic.twitter.com/0T9HzUHuh6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
He also promised to cultivate the true potential of the platform and that he would work with the company and its community of users to ‘unlock it’.
Currently, the Twitter board comprises the chief executive of five months, Parag Agrawal; the former CEO and co-founder, Jack Dorsey; and Salesforce’s co-CEO, Bret Taylor as chair. Albeit, this is subject to change as Musk takes the company private. Twitter is currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important. https://t.co/5iNTtJoEHf
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 25, 2022
In a meeting with employees following the announcement of the acquisition, Agarwal was quoted as telling his employees: “Once the deal closes, we don’t know which direction the platform will go.”
Aside from Musk, who had a stake of just under 10 per cent before the deal, Twitter’s major shareholders were largely investment firms. The Americal Daily, which reportedly listened to the meeting, stated that Agarwal told employees that he estimated the deal to take three to six months to complete.
“In (sic.) this moment, we operate Twitter as we always have,” he was quoted by Reuters as having said, adding that “how we run the company, the decisions we make, and the positive changes we drive — that will be on us, and under our control.”
While it is unclear how hands-on Musk plans to be at Twitter, Tesla shareholders and investors are reportedly now questioning how his new acquisition will affect his work with the green automaker that has indubiously changed the way we look at electric cars.
