SAN FRANCISCO (CelebrityAccess) — After months of speculation, drama, and legal scuffles, billionaire investor Elon Musk has completed his acquisition of social media platform Twitter in a deal reportedly worth $44bn.
On Thursday, Musk posted a series of images on his Twitter account, showing him entering the company’s headquarters, carrying a porcelain sink with the tag line ‘Entering Twitter’s Headquarters, let that sink in.’
In a filing with the Securites & Exchange Commission on Thursday, Twitter confirmed that the merger had completed, with the company’s common stock converting to the right to receive $54.20 in cash, without interest.
Twitter also formally requested delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and the company’s trading was suspended on October 28th.
Multiple media sources reported that Musk cleared house after assuming control of the company, firing CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Neg Segal and policy, legal and trust boss Vijaya Gadde but the company has not confirmed any senior staff exits.
While there has been much speculation about the impact of Musk’s acquisition on Twitter’s content moderation policy, he said he plans to make no immediate changes.
In a Twitter post on Friday, he said the company would form a “content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints” and claimed that no major content decisions or reinstatements will happen before the council convenes.
He also posted a lengthy statement detailing his motivations for acquiring the platform:
I wanted to reach out personally to share my motivations in acquiring Twitter. There has been much speculation about why I bought Twitter and what I think about advertising. Most of it has been wrong.”
The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence. There is currently a great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.
In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of traditional media has fueled and catered to those polarizing extremes, as they believe that is what brings in the money, but in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost.
That is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy. I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love. And I do so with humility, recognizing that failure in pursuit of this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.
That said, Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play videos games ranging from all ages to mature.
I also very much believe that advertising, when done right, can delight, entertain, and inform you; it can show you a service, or product, or medical treatment that you never knew existed, but is right for you. For this to be true, it is essential to show Twitter users advertising that is as relevant as possible to their needs. Low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content!
Fundamentally, Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise. To everyone who has partnered with us, I thank you. Let us build something extraordinary together.
