Micro-blogging platform Twitter is now Elon Musk's beetle bug as he completed the $44 billion takeover deal after months of uncertainty that clouded the employees and stakeholders. ‘The bird is freed’ and ‘Let the good times roll’ were the Tesla Chief, and now ‘Chief Twit’s first couple of posts within 10 hours of taking over.
However, everything wasn't a smooth ride since the announcement of the Space X owner's decision to buy the platform. Here's a quick look back at what went down.
Elon Musk went from an enthusiastic buyer to one where he got cold feet to the one where he entered the Twitter headquarters in California with a ceramic sink in his hand. The months-long legal battle ended a day before the court-ordered deadline when Musk completed the takeover on 27 October.
Elon Musk is revealed to be the largest shareholder of Twitter with a 9% stake in the company. On the same day, a letter signed by then-CEO Parag Agarwal and Musk himself reveals that “Twitter agrees to appoint Musk to its board of directors”
"[Musk is] both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term,” Parag Agarwal tweets.
Tesla chief's rejection of a seat on the board was understood by Parag Agarwal's statement, “I believe this is for the best,” Agrawal later wrote in an announcement. “We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not.”
Further, days later Musk, made a bid to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share, stoking fears among employees of a hostile takeover and a “hostage” situation. “This is my best and final offer,” wrote Musk in a letter to board Chair Bret Taylor.
Twitter agreed to Elon Musk's offer which brought up the total cost to about $44 billion.
In July, Musk officially wanted to back out of the deal. After initially agreeing to buy the company in April, Musk spent months attempting to get out of the deal, first citing concerns about the number of bots on the platform and later allegations raised by a company whistleblower.
Musk alleged that the company failed to adequately disclose the number of spam and fake accounts on the service.
When Musk said he was terminating the deal, Twitter sued the billionaire in July, alleging he “refuses to honour his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.”
In August, The Washington Post reported that Twitter’s former security chief has filed a whistleblower complaint alleging widespread problems that put Twitter users’ information and company data at risk. Twitter pushes back, saying Peiter “Mudge” Zatko is a disgruntled former employee with outdated and inaccurate allegations.
On 3 October, Musk said he wanted to pursue his acquisition of Twitter at the original price of USD 54.20 a share if the social messaging service dropped its litigation.
On 27 October, Elon Musk officially completes the transaction.
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