Summary
- Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter has been linked to Tesla's share prices.
- Musk rejected a board seat and later had issues with the terms of the deal.
- Twitter is currently operating at minimum capacity under Musk's ownership.
Elon Musk's decision to buy Twitter has been a topic of much discussion in recent months. The CEO's tumultuous journey to owning the social network directly coincides with Tesla's share prices. So, how did we get here and where do we go from here?
It all started in January when Musk began purchasing shares of Twitter. The public didn't find out about this until April 4th, when he disclosed that he had purchased a 9% stake in the company. On April 5th, he was offered a board seat by Twitter, but he rejected it, saying he didn't agree with the moves that the company wanted to make.
On April 25th, he announced that he was going to buy the company for $44 billion at $54.20 per share. However, on July 8th, he said that he didn't like the terms of the deal. He claimed that Twitter wasn't providing him with enough information about bots, which he wanted to clean up on the platform, and that they weren't giving him the data that he had been requesting repeatedly. He filed to try to do away with the deal entirely.
Twitter responded by suing to try to force him to purchase the company. This led to the release of text messages between Musk and other power players in Silicon Valley, discussing how he would change practices at Twitter, who he would allow on the platform, and how he would monetize the platform.
Just as the trial between Musk and Twitter was about to begin, Musk announced on October 3rd that he would finally agree to purchase the platform for $54.20 per share at $44 billion. In October, the agreement was finalized, and he is now the owner of one of the most influential social media networks.
Currently, Twitter is in a strange state of operating at minimum capacity. Musk has laid off half of the company, then more staff, had to hire some of them back, and some offices are shutting down due to unpaid rent. The situation is not just affecting employees but also other areas of the company.
This is a different endeavor than what Musk has done previously. He is still figuring out how to navigate the social network, and many are questioning if he is putting enough time into Twitter and Tesla, and how he can do all of this with SpaceX in between. The future of Twitter under Musk's ownership remains uncertain.