(Reuters) -Twitter Inc on Monday agreed to accept a $44 billion takeover bid from Elon Musk, giving the world’s richest person control of the social media company once the deal closes.
Here’s a chronology of developments, including some tweets from Musk, that shed some light on his views of the company and free speech:
Date Tweets and comments from company filing
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning
April 25, 2022 democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where
matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk
tweeted https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1518677066325053441?t=uZkgCtHZTcwmuGPkh3loDQ&s=19
after the deal was announced. “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.”
April 21, 2022 “If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots
or die trying!” Musk tweeted https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1517215066550116354.
“And authenticate all real humans,” he added.
April 14, 2022 “Taking Twitter private at $54.20 should be up to
shareholders, not the board,” Musk asked https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1514698036760530945
in a poll on Twitter in which 83.5% of the responders
said yes.
Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said that as one
April 14, 2022 of the major shareholders in Twitter he rejected a
takeover bid by Musk
April 14, 2022 “However, since making my investment I now realize the
company will neither thrive nor serve this societal
imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be
transformed as a private company,” Musk said in a filing https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001418091/000110465922045641/tm2212748d1_sc13da.htm
April 14, 2022 “My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not
accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a
shareholder,” Musk added in the filing
April 14, 2022 “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it,”
Musk said in the filing
April 14, 2022 Musk tweeted https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1514564966564651008
saying “I made an offer”, with a link to the company
filing
April 12, 2022 Musk was sued by former Twitter shareholders who claim
they missed out on the recent run-up in its stock price
because he waited too long to disclose a 9.2% stake in the
social media company
April 10, 2022 Musk polled followers on Twitter asking whether the
company’s headquarters in San Francisco should be
converted into a homeless shelter. The tweet is now
deleted. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos had backed Musk’s
idea
April 10, 2022 Twitter CEO Agrawal shared a note https://twitter.com/paraga/status/1513354622466867201
on Twitter saying that Musk rejected the company’s offer
to join its board. Musk deleted the tweet, where he
responded with an emoticon with a
face-with-hand-over-mouth
April 10, 2022 Musk started a poll asking if “w” should be deleted from
Twitter’s name, leaving two voting options, “yes” and “of
course.” He deleted that too
April 9, 2022 With respect to Twitter’s business model, Musk tweeted
before deleting it: “And no ads. The power of corporations
to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends
on advertising money to survive”
April 9, 2022 Musk tweeted https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1512946176244473863,
“Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue (ie pays
$3/month) should get an authentication checkmark” about
its subscription service that offers “exclusive access to
premium features” on a monthly basis. Later, he deleted
the tweet
April 5, 2022 Agrawal tweeted https://twitter.com/paraga/status/1511320953598357505?s=21&t=Is9i_R_hPKzFuUV5VhxUZQ
Musk is being appointed to Twitter’s board. “He’s 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”, a follow-on tweet said
April 5, 2022 Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey welcomed Musk to Twitter’s board
in a tweet https://twitter.com/jack/status/1511329369473564677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1511329369473564677%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Feconomictimes.indiatimes.com%2Fmagazines%2Fpanache%2Fto-celebrate-memelord-elon-musks-twitter-board-entry-netizens-flood-the-internet-with-jokes%2Farticleshow%2F90687616.cms,
added: “Parag and Elon both lead with their hearts, and
they will be an incredible team”
April 4, 2022 Musk posted a Twitter poll asking users if they wanted an
edit button. “Do you want an edit button?” Musk asked in
the tweet, in response to which Agrawal said the
consequences of the poll will be important. “Please vote
carefully,” he tweeted
April 4, 2022 In his first tweet since the disclosure of his stake in
Twitter, he said, “Oh hi lol”
March 26, 2022 Musk said Twitter failing to adhere to free speech
principles fundamentally undermines democracy and asked if
a new platform was needed
(Reporting by Akash Sriram, Eva Mathews, Chavi Mehta, Tiyashi Datta and Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Shounak Dasgupta and Amy Caren Daniel)
