Elon Musk reportedly offering to buy Twitter again
Elon Musk on Tuesday revived his offer to buy social networking site Twitter for $44bn, after previously attempting to back out of the high-profile deal.
The Tesla billionaire proposed the price, which equals the original valuation of $54.20 a share, in a letter to Twitter filed on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In the letter, his layers stated that Mr Musk and his backers “intend to proceed to closing of the transaction contemplated by the April 25, 2022, merger agreement, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein.”
Twitter confirmed that it had received the letter from Mr Musk and stated that it intended to close the deal at the original price, without commenting on how it would respond to him.
Mr Musk broke his silence on the deal on Twitter late Tuesday, writing: “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app”. He added that buying Twitter “accelerates X by 3 to 5 years”.
In July, Twitter sued Mr Musk for what it said was his “wrongful” attempt to cancel his offer, a case that may force the entrepreneur into acquiring the company.
Without an agreement, proceedings in the case are set to begin within days, with Mr Musk scheduled to be deposed in Texas later this week.
Elon Musk has long-since hinted that X could be a social media site.
In a thread of posts about that eventuality, one user asked whether Mr Musk had planned to launch his own social network if he is successful in escaping the deal. It is unclear how that will now tie in if Mr Musk goes through with the deal.
Elon Musk could launch his own social network – X.com – if his deal to buy Twitter collapses, he has hinted.
What is X.com?
X.com simply points to a website that shows the letter x, and nothing more. But it has long been owned by Mr Musk, who has used it for a variety of purposes.
Originally, X.com was an online bank that was co-founded by Mr Musk and would go on to become part of PayPal. The branding was eventually lost in a series of mergers in the early 2000s.
PayPal originally kept ownership of the X.com domain name, but sold it to Mr Musk in 2017. He said that he had bought it because of its “sentimental value”.
Since then, it has largely stayed dormant. While it has occasionally been used for marketing campaigns – such as directing visitors to a hat sale on another website – it has largely just shown that single “x”.
Mr Musk gave no indication of how that X.com website would look, or even a firm commitment that it would launch.
Many employees were expressing concerns on Blind, an anonymous private forum popular among Twitter employees.
The reaction, according to CNN, was overwhelmingly negative. “Cue the layoffs,” one comment read.
Other employees were concerned that Mr Musk would roll back Twitter’s benefits package, including the severance offered to departing employees.
Mr Musk had previously said that Twitter’s costs were too high, amid an economic downturn across the United States and one that has stopped hiring among big tech companies.
Elon Musk could still go to court over Twitter deal
Despite the new offer, Mr Musk could still face the Court of Chancery.
Sources sources familiar with the litigation told Reuters on Wednesday that the court case could continue. “Keep an eye on the docket,” said one source.
‘Keep an eye on the docket’, one individual with knowledge of the case reportedly said
Twitter General Counsel Sean Edgett said in a message to employees Tuesday that the company had received Musk’s letter and planned to close the deal at $54.20 per share. “I will continue to keep you posted on significant updates, but in the meantime, thank you for your patience as we work through this on the legal side,” he said, according to a copy of the message obtained by CNN.
Parker Lyons, a senior financial analyst at the company, tweeted a meme that Twitter’s 2023 plans were ‘worthless’
Many Twitter employees have expressed frustration with the new deal - especially as it scuppors plans for the next year.
“I am sitting on 2023 company wide strategy readouts and I guess we are going to collectively ignore what’s going on”, Rumman Chowdhury, the director of Twitter’s ML Ethics, Transparency, and Accountability team, tweeted.
ICYMI: Timeline of Elon Musk’s battle for Tesla
Here’s a look at some of what’s transpired between the Tesla titan and the San Francisco-based social media platform.
Reports say Elon Musk is proposing to go through with his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, a move that would end a legal fight between the billionaire and the social media company
‘Super apps’ have ‘not really caught on’, social media expert says
Some people are skeptical of Elon Musk’s attempt to build a super-app. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” social media expert and industry commentator Matt Navarra said.
“Super apps, as they are known in the industry, are not a new thing. They’ve been hugely successful in Asia, but have not really caught on elsewhere.
“Could Twitter form part of a super app that lets you buy goods, chat to friends, get news updates, book a taxi etc? Sure. Can Elon Musk make it work? Possibly. Will Elon actually do it? Who knows. He seems to have commitment issues.”
ICYMI: Self-proclaimed ‘socialist’ to ‘red pill’ anti-lockdown crusader: What are Elon Musk’s politics?
The Tesla and SpaceX tycoon has donated to both parties and attacked everyone from Joe Biden through Donald Trump to trade unions and ‘pronouns’, but underneath it all there is a consistent ideology, writes Io Dodds.
Is Elon Musk Republican or Democrat?
