Elon Musk is on track to buy Twitter after the social media platform agreed to a $44 billion buyout offer from the billionaire.
The company confirmed the news in a statement released Monday (April 25). “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty and financing,” said Bret Taylor, Twitter’s independent board chair. “The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”
Musk himself commented on the buyout deal with a tweet claiming that he hopes his critics remain on the platform.
The deal will reportedly take the company private. Musk was initially offered a seat on Twitter’s board, but eventually turned it down with the desire to put in a bid to purchase Twitter instead. According to CNN, under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk’s original offer and marking a 38 percent premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company.
“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,” Musk said in a statement Monday. “Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Musk is one of Twitter’s most controversial users, and he has a following of over 83 million people on the social media platform. As word of Musk potentially buying the social media platform have spread in recent weeks, the move has generated quite a bit of strong reaction, with many either fearing or applauding his takeover and imagining what it might mean for the social media platform. Musk himself hoped revealed his hope that users would give him a chance as the company’s new owner, stating he wants to hold onto “even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
Wolfgang Van Halen, Doc Coyle, DJ Ashba and more are just a few of the rockers who have weighed in with their reaction to the news of Musk’s pending purchase. See a sampling of the reactions below:
Wolfgang Van Halen
Brand of Sacrifice
Doc Coyle
Mark Morton
Danica Roem
Ice T (Body Count)
DJ Ashba
49 Rock + Metal Artists Pose With Their Pets
