Twitter is set to become a privately held company after it agreed to be acquired by Elon Musk for $54.20 a share in a transaction valued at $44 billion.
The acquisition, which will hugely affect users and advertisers alike, comes a week after Twitter originally turned down Musk’s offer to buy the platform for $54.20 a share.
However, on Monday 25 April, the social media company unanimously agreed to a purchase price that represented a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on 1 April, the last trading day before Musk disclosed his 9% stake in Twitter.
“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,” said Musk.
“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.”
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According to the Campaign, advertisers from across the globe invested $4.5 billion on Twitter in 2021, up from $3.2 billion in 2020.
Several intrigued marketers aired their thoughts on the impact of the news on advertising.
One Twitter user posted: “Will Twitter advertisers want to make Musk even richer? What happens if one of Tesla’s competitors wants to advertise on Twitter? Will he allow it? What about discussions on fuel cells & hydrogen which he hates.. Will he allow that?”
Will Twitter advertisers want to make Musk even richer? What happens if one of Tesla's competitors wants to advertise on Twitter? Will he allow it? What about discussions on fuel cells & hydrogen which he hates.. Will he allow that?
— Dick Winchester 🏴 (@DickWinchester) April 25, 2022
Another added: “Suspect a lot of media bosses are worried that Musk will wipe out a lot of fake accounts & end Twitter’s inflation of impressions & engagements. A lot of advertisers are probably taking Twitter’s numbers at face value & are being defrauded.”
Suspect a lot of media bosses are worried that Musk will wipe out a lot of fake accounts & end Twitter’s inflation of impressions & engagements. A lot of advertisers are probably taking Twitter’s numbers at face value & are being defrauded. https://t.co/T5iREDWvJn
— Nemets (@Peter_Nimitz) April 26, 2022
Twitter’s independent board chair, Bret Taylor, concluded: “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing.”
“The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”
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