WASHINGTON–Twitter has agreed to be bought by billionaire Elon Musk. The company and Musk made the announcement Monday afternoon, a move that some Conservatives see as a positive change for the company, which has been criticized for censoring news stories, such as the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Musk announced intentions to finance a little over half of the $46 billion deal.
The other $21 billion will come from equity commitments.
The deal could close in 2022, pending approval of Twitter stockholders.
“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,” said Musk. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
“The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders,” said Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board chair.
Indiana’s Rep. Jim Banks was the only Hoosier lawmaker to react to Monday’s purchase, as of Monday afternoon, saying in a Tweet, “This is a huge win against the woke mob and haters of free speech. I would encourage @elonmusk to immediately: Allow all factually true and legal content to be posted; Restore the accounts of all duly elected government officials.”
Ywitter’s shares went up six percent when trading began after the announcement.
