Elon Musk To Buy Twitter In $44B Deal, Social Media Company Says

SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk, the eccentric billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX, has entered into an agreement to buy social media giant Twitter in a deal valued at about $44 billion, the company announced Monday.

Twitter said in a news release that it had entered into a definitive agreement with Musk, the world's richest man, who will buy the company for $54.20 per share in cash.

Under the terms of the deal, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38 percent premium to Twitter's closing stock price on April 1, the last trading day before Musk disclosed his roughly 9 percent stake in the company, Twitter said.

Bret Taylor, Twitter's independent board chair, said, the board conducted a "thoughtful and comprehensive process" to assess Musk's proposal. It focused 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," Taylor said in a statement.

Twitter's board unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close this year. It is subject to the approval of Twitter's stockholders and regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Parag Agrawal, Twitter's CEO, said, the company has a "purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world."

"Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important," Agrawal said.

Musk said free speech is the "bedrock of a functioning democracy" and that Twitter is the "digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated."

"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," Musk said. "Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."

Reuters first reported the deal Monday morning, citing anonymous sources.

Twitter, which has been examining a takeover bid from the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, was previously expected to decline the offer when Musk initially made the bid April 14 without providing financing details.

The company said Monday that Musk had secured $25.5 billion of fully committed debt and margin loan financing, and that he was committing about $21 billion in equity. There are no financing conditions to the closing of the transaction.

Twitter's board previously voted unanimously to adopt a "poison pill" to help stave off a hostile takeover the day after Musk made his bid. Under the plan, if anyone acquired at least 15 percent of the company's outstanding common stock without board approval, other shareholders could buy more shares at a discount.

After declining an offer to join Twitter's board on the condition he not accumulate more than a 14.9 percent share, Musk sent several since-deleted tweets proposing major changes to the company, including dropping ads and even transforming its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.

"I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy," Musk said in the filing. "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."

Twitter plans to release its first quarter fiscal year 2022 results before market open Thursday.

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