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Elon Musk’s pursuit of Twitter was a melodrama from starting to finish, a risky courtship between a mercurial billionaire and the massively influential social media platform. That relationship, an obvious love-hate affair from Musk’s aspect, now appears set to finish in an acrimonious divorce, as reported by AFP.
The courtship started with an costly first date: Musk — a longtime Twitter person recognized for inflammatory tweets — snapped up 73.5 million shares at the price of practically $2.9 billion. The acquisition, which was revealed in an April 4 regulatory submitting and gave him a 9.2 per cent stake within the firm, despatched Twitter shares hovering and sparked hypothesis that Musk was looking for an lively function within the social media firm’s operations. It additionally earned him a seat on the board. CEO Parag Agrawal introduced the provide — in a tweet, after all — and referred to as Musk “a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is strictly what we’d like.”
However the honeymoon did not final lengthy, Agrawal stated on April 10 that Musk had determined in opposition to becoming a member of the board, a transfer the Twitter CEO believed was “for the perfect.” Quite than amicably parting methods, Musk launched a hostile takeover bid for the corporate, providing $54.20 a share, an April 13 submitting confirmed. After saying it might “fastidiously evaluate” the provide, Twitter adopted a “poison tablet” defence, asserting a plan that may permit shareholders to buy further inventory.
Then got here the plans for a stroll down the company aisle, the large day of ‘engagement’, Twitter reversed course and stated on April 25 that it was promoting to Musk in a deal valued at $44 billion. However weddings will be costly, so Musk took motion to cowl the fee, parting with $8.4 billion in shares in electrical carmaker Tesla. He pledged as much as $21 billion from his private fortune, with the remainder financed by debt. Musk was already planning his new life with Twitter, saying just a few days later that he would elevate the ban on Donald Trump, which was handed down after the January 2021 riot on the US Capitol by the then President’s supporters.
Additionally Learn: Elon Musk withdraws $44 billion bid to purchase Twitter over ‘deceptive representations’
However Musk quickly started displaying indicators of chilly ft, saying on Could 13 that the deal to purchase Twitter was “briefly on maintain” pending particulars on spam and faux accounts on the platform. In early June, advocacy teams determined to talk now as an alternative of eternally holding their peace, launching a marketing campaign to cease Musk from going by means of with the acquisition, which they stated would permit him to “hand a megaphone to demagogues and extremists.” Musk in the meantime accused Twitter of failing to offer information on pretend accounts, and threatened to ‘breakup’.
On June 16, nevertheless, he supplied indicators that the match was nonetheless a go, pitching a imaginative and prescient to the Twitter employees of a one-billion-user platform. However he was hazy on points corresponding to potential layoffs and free speech limits. All of it got here crashing down on July 8, when Musk referred to as off the ‘marriage ceremony’ and accused Twitter of constructing “deceptive” statements in regards to the variety of pretend accounts. The breakup between the billionaire and the social media platform is about to be removed from pleasant. Twitter’s chairman tweeted that the corporate will pursue authorized motion to implement the deal, establishing an expensive showdown because the divorce heads to courtroom, as reported by AFP.
(with inputs from companies)
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