Twitter accepts Elon Musk’s $44 billion bid

Twitter’s board of directors said Monday afternoon that it  has accepted Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $44 billion offer  to buy the company — bringing an end to a weekslong saga and ushering in a new era for the struggling social-media platform.

Musk, who has said he wants to buy Twitter in order to restore the platform’s adherence to free speech principles, will pay $54.20 per share for the company, which he has vowed to take private.

“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. 

“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 proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders,” Twitter board chair Bret Taylor said. 

Trading of Twitter’s stock was halted leading up to the announcement. Twitter shares were trading at $51.98 each ahead of the pause, indicating that investors were uncertain whether the deal would actually go through.  

At $44 billion, Musk is paying more than 175 times as much for Twitter as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos paid for the Washington Post in 2013. 

Ahead of the announcement, Twitter’s board met on Monday to discuss Musk’s proposal after shareholders warmed to the idea of a takeover.