Elon Musk and Twitter have reportedly reached a deal for a buyout of the social media platform worth $44 billion, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
The report said the deal could be finalized and announced after market close on Monday, but perhaps even sooner. Musk and Twitter executives have been working to make a deal happen since yesterday when the Tesla CEO met with the social media platform’s board to discuss a potential buyout.
Reports showed Twitter shareholders were putting increased pressure on board members over the weekend to get a deal done with Musk. Reuters reported numerous Twitter shareholders had reached out to the company following Musk’s filing to take over the company at $54.20 per share. Musk had said that it was a “best and final” offer in the filing before Twitter’s advisors stated the offer was undervalued. The board adopted a “poison pill” method to offer current shareholders additional holdings at a discounted price.
However, Musk continued to push on and received commitments for additional funding — up to $46.5 billion — to help complete the acquisition.
Musk, who polled Twitter followers in early April about Twitter’s ability to uphold free speech rights, said the platform could be vastly improved with the right leadership. As Twitter is essentially the “town hall” of 2022, Musk said it is important to have an “inclusive arena for free speech” during an interview with Head of TED Chris Anderson.
This morning, reports indicated a deal could be reached as soon as today as Musk and Twitter board members have been working since Sunday to come to more explicit terms. The WSJ report indicates:
“The two sides worked through the night to hash out a deal that would be valued at $54.20 a share, or $44 billion, the people said. Assuming there isn’t a last-minute snag, the deal is expected to be announced after the market closes Monday, if not sooner.”
Twitter shares (NYSE: TWTR) were up 5.70 percent on Monday at 1:11 PM ET, following the news.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is not a TWTR shareholder. He is a TSLA Shareholder.
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