After Twitter said it has reached an agreement to sell the company to Elon Musk for around $44bn, the platform’s former chief and co-founder Jack Dorsey has called the billionaire’s takeover of the company the “singular solution” he trusts.
The deal was announced by the social media platform on Monday after days of negotiations between the world’s richest person and the Twitter board.
Musk will pay $54.20 cash per share for the San Francisco-based company, which will now be taken private after days of intense negotiations between the entrepreneur and the platform’s board.
The board announced it had reached a deal with Musk on Monday, and that it represented a 38 per cent premium from Twitter’s closing price on 1 April, the day before the world’s richest person made his move for the company by announcing his nine per cent stake.
Musk will likely make some significant changes to the social media platform, having made several hints in recent months about what his intentions are. It comes after Musk’s friend Dorsey stepped down as CEO and Parag Agrawal took over.
Key points
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Jack Dorsey calls Elon Musk ‘singular solution’ he trusts
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Twitter announces company will be sold to Tesla titan Elon Musk for $44bn
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What would Twitter look like under Elon Musk?
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Why is Elon Musk interested in Twitter?
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Elon Musk’s ten most notable tweets, from Covid-complaints to Bill Gates and Joe Biden-bashing
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How much will Jack Dorsey make from selling Twitter to Elon Musk?
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Mass Twitter deactivations after Musk takeover are ‘organic’
Elon Musk’s Twitter buyout in full
16:33 , Anthony Cuthbertson
The comprehensive filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission contains more than 46,000 words – the length of a short novel – but reading through it there are some interesting titbits.
Among them is a clause that Twitter must stop actively looking for a new or alternative buyer, but if one approaches with a better offer, then it can be considered. If Twitter breaks off the deal with Elon Musk, it will need to pay him $1 billion. Specifically, if “Twitter terminates the Merger Agreement to allow Twitter to enter into a definitive agreement for a competing acquisition proposal that constitutes a Superior Proposal.”
The full filing on the SEC website can be found here.
Who precisely is Elon Musk?
15:58 , Anthony Cuthbertson
This is the question asked by Andrew Buncombe, in his latest piece: ‘Will the real Elon Musk please stand up?’
‘Is he the doting family man with seven intriguingly-named children. Or is he the shock-jock blowhard who smokes weed while chatting to Joe Rogan, gets taken to court for making wild allegations that someone is “a pedo guy”, and is charged by the federal financial watchdog for loose words about taking Tesla private, a $40m penalty he later tweeted was “worth it”?’
You can read the full piece here:
Will the real Elon Musk please stand up?
Does Elon Musk buying Twitter put you off using it?
14:48 , Anthony Cuthbertson
With hundreds of thousands of people appearing to quit Twitter after news broke that Elon Musk had bought it, we’re running a reader poll to see how the buyout has changed user opinion.
You can cast your vote and take part here.
We’ll have the results for you as soon as we have them.
Mass Twitter deactivations after Musk takeover are ‘organic’
14:31 , Anthony Cuthbertson
In the wake of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover being announced, thousands of accounts appeared to diappear from the platform.
The follower counts of some high-profile users, including Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, dropped by thousands. Even the most popular account on Twitter, that of former US president Barack Obama, saw their followe counts take a hit.
There was speculation that it was either a purge on the part of Twitter, or the result of hundreds of thousands of people leaving the platform in protest to the takeover. Now Twitter is saying that the flctuations in followers for these big accounts come mostly from “organic” closures.
“While we continue to take action on accounts that violate our spam policy which can affect follower counts, these fluctuations appear to largely be a result of an increase in new account creation and deactivation,” Twitter said in a statement, adding that it was looking into the “recent fluctuations in follower counts”.
You can read more about it here.
Elon Musk forbidden from disparaging Twitter in buyout deal
11:50 , Anthony Cuthbertson
More details about Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover have been revealed in a US Securities and Exchanges Commission document today, including a clause that prevents the billionaire from being “disparaging about the company”.
It also shows that should either Musk or Twitter pull out of the deal, they would be forced to pay the other party $1 billion.
You can read the story here.
Elon Musk’s Twitter deal forbids him ‘disparaging the company’
Trump’s Truth Social tops iPhone app download chart after Musk’s Twitter deal
06:22 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Former US president Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social was the most downloaded free iPhone app in the App Store on Tuesday following Tesla chief Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter for $44bn.
Truth Social downloads have reportedly risen to 75,000 for the week of 18 to 25 April.
The relative positions in the download charts of Truth Social and Twitter were noted in a tweet by Musk himself, who presented the information without further comment late on Tuesday:
The figure for Truth Social downloads is up 150 per cent from the week before, according to data from Sensor Tower, a company that monitors mobile apps metrics.
This spike in Truth Social downloads comes after reports that downloads had fallen after a messy launch of the platform.
The former US president’s app has been downloaded roughly 1.4 million times to date since its launch in February.
Read the full story here.
Will the real Elon Musk please stand up?
05:00 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: Man who taught himself computing at age of 10 may now sit at unprecedented nexus of power and influence, writes Andrew Buncombe.
Will the real Elon Musk please stand up?
Twitter says mass account deactivations after Musk takeover was ‘organic’
04:29 , Vishwam Sankaran
Following the announcement that Tesla chief Elon Musk would buy out Twitter, several high-profile accounts including that of former president Barack Obama, and singers Katy Perry and Taylor Swift saw a drop in followers by hundreds of thousands.
The social media company has now confirmed that these account closures were largely “organic” and not from the automated deactivation of bots and fake accounts.
“While we continue to take action on accounts that violate our spam policy which can affect follower counts, these fluctuations appear to largely be a result of an increase in new account creation and deactivation,” Twitter said in a statement.
Could ElonJet be shut down?
04:15 , Graeme Massie
One person fearful of what a Musk-ruled Twitter will look like is Jack Sweeney, the teenage coder behind the Twitter bot @ElonJet, an account that tracks the movements of the Tesla titan’s private jet escapades.
Speaking to Insider following Monday’s announcement of the San Francisco-based platform’s sale to Mr Musk, the Florida native and university freshman told the outlet that he was unsure if the SpaceX founder will allow him to keep the bot account alive.
“ââIt’s hard to think that he wouldn’t do something,” Mr Swe
eney told Insider.
Mr Sweeney’s concerns are likely merited, particularly in the light of what happened last fall between the teen and the new Twitter owner.
In November 2021, Mr Musk reportedly reached out to Mr Sweeney and offered the coder $5,000 to shut down the jet tracking account, arguing that there were security concerns with the information being shared publicly.
Elon Musk’s Twitter deal raises concerns over concentrated wealth and power online
03:04 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: A deal for the world’s wealthiest person to purchase social media company Twitter for $44bn has raised alarms over the concentration of billionaire power across social media platforms and how they will be used to shape both public policy and the economic interests of the people running them.
Elon Musk’s massive purchase has also revived calls from members of Congress and other critics to demand that US billionaires pay higher taxes, while questioning Mr Musk’s public and self interests in spending that much money to control the platform.
Alex Woodward has all the details.
Elon Musk’s Twitter deal raises concerns over concentrated wealth and power online
Some Republicans fear a Trump return to an Elon Musk-owned Twitter, reports say
02:05 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: While some Republicans took to publicly cheering Elon Musk’s $44bn purchase of Twitter as a major victory for free speech, there were some who viewed it with trepidation, according to reports.
For a series of top GOP insiders told Politico Playbook of their grave concerns about the new Musk-led Twitter becoming a haven to welcome back previously banned accounts, namely Donald Trump.
Johanna Chisholm has the story.
Some Republicans fear a Trump return to an Elon Musk-owned Twitter, reports say
Who owned Twitter before Elon Musk?
01:02 , Graeme Massie
When Elon Musk finally closes his $44bn deal for Twitter this year he will joint ranks of media moguls, that include his rival for title of world’s richest person, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
The Twitter board finally accepted the Tesla boss’s $54.20 per share cash offer for the platform on Monday after intense negotiations, both public and private, and it now has to be ratified by its shareholders.
Who owned Twitter before Elon Musk?
What happens to my Twitter stock?
Wednesday 27 April 2022 00:35 , Graeme Massie
Elon Musk has been given the green light to take over Twitter after the company’s board accepted his cash bid that would value it at around $44bn.
Twitter still remains a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange and will remain so until the platform is “delisted.”
More details below.
What happens to my Twitter stock?
Susan Collins says that Trump should get his Twitter back
Wednesday 27 April 2022 00:03 , Graeme Massie
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine told Huffpost that former president Donald Trump should be allowed to have his Twitter account back.
The remarks come as Tesla magnate Elon Musk announced that he would buy the platform. Many conservatives have expressed hope the sale would mean that the former president would return to the social media platform.
Susan Collins says that Trump should get his Twitter back
Elon Musk’s ‘X Holdings’ to complete Twitter purchase by 24 October
Tuesday 26 April 2022 23:06 , Graeme Massie
A new SEC filing by Twitter reveals that the company will merge with two of Mr Musk’s ‘X Holdings’ companies later this year after the company agreed to sell itself for $44bn.
Tesla boss slams critics who ‘fear free speech’ after $44bn Twitter bid accepted
Tuesday 26 April 2022 20:41 , Graeme Massie
Elon Musk has slammed those critics who ‘fear free speech’ after having his $44bn Twitter bid accepted by the social media company.
The Tesla CEO took to Twitter after staying off the platform for almost 24 hours in the wake of his takeover of the company being announced on Monday.
“The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all,” he tweeted.
Will Donald Trump come back?
Tuesday 26 April 2022 19:30 , Adam Smith
When asked if former US president Donald Trump would be allowed back on Twitter following Elon Musk’s deal to buy the platform, the company’s chief executive Parag Agrawal said the question should be directed to the billionaire himself.
“Twitter 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,” Mr Agrawal said.
Speaking at a company-wide meeting following the announcement, Mr Agrawal told Twitter staff that the future of the social media firm is uncertain after the deal with the Tesla chief closes, according to Reuters.
At the meeting, he was reportedly asked whether Mr Trump – who was banned from Twitter last year in the aftermath of the 6 January 2021 Capitol riots – would be allowed to return.
“Once the deal closes, we don’t know which direction the platform will go. It’s a question we should address with him [Musk],” Mr Agrawal replied.
Tesla share price slumps day after Musk buys Twitter
Tuesday 26 April 2022 19:03 , Graeme Massie
Tesla saw more than $100bn wiped offits market cap as the share price of the electic vehicle company slumped more than 10 per cent the day after Elon Musk bought Twitter.
At the time of this post on Tuesday, Tesla shares were down 11.5 per cent, or $114.82 to $883.20 per share.
Should Musk treat Twitter like a messaging platform?
Tuesday 26 April 2022 19:00 , Adam Smith
The Verge’s David Pierce has argued that Twitter is not the ‘digital town square’ that Elon Musk believes it is. Instead of a debate it’s a carcophany of voices, unhelpful to debate.
“Twitter shouldn’t try to optimize the public arena, a 200 million-person conversation that will never make sense. Instead, under Musk, the company should focus on the private side of the platform, a woefully underdeveloped system for messaging and communicating that could turn it into the best messaging app on the market”, Pierce writes.
“Twitter should invest heavily in making DMs a powerful, searchable, encrypted messaging system. It should finally roll out the much-rumored “long tweets” feature that lets people post more than 280 characters. It should continue to work on the Communities feature so people can chat about things they’re interested in rather than junking up their followers’ timelines with stuff they won’t care about. It should integrate Revue newsletters and focus on making Spaces more useful and reliable. It should worry less about ranking your timeline and more about giving you ways to talk and people to talk to.”
Tuesday 26 April 2022 18:30 , Adam Smith
“With over 300m users including world leaders, Twitter is already a massive threat vector. If Twitter were to become an open-source platform as Musk has said he plans to do, we can expect further exposure to risk. Regarding the open-source approach to Twitter on user privacy, we saw a similar issue in recent times with the Log4Shell (Log4J) zero day vulnerability. Open-source libraries, which are often developed and maintained by volunteers and part time contributors, raise questions around who is responsible when something goes wrong”, Nick Ross, cybersecurity consultant at Trend Micro, told The Independent.
“Elon Musk has hinted to wanting to improve the security of Twitter – any improved approaches to authentication that reduce misuse of the platform by AI and spam bots are indeed welcome. The age-old issue of security versus convenience is likely to play a part here. Security enhancements may result in additional steps being required to register and use Twitter, such as using multi factor authentication techniques – SMS security tokens, additional authenticator apps, biometrics etc. These minor inconveniences are thankfully becoming common place, and ultimately result in better levels of data protection.”
Who has left and who has returned to Twitter over Elon Musk takeover?
Tuesday 26 April 2022 18:14 , Graeme Massie
Elon Musk’s $44bn Twitter takeover is prompting some users to leave the platform while others are returning.
Following the announcement that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s offer to buy the social media platform was accepted, several well-known users announced that they were considering leaving Twitter or using it in a different way.
Who has left and who has returned to Twitter over Elon Musk takeover?
What about the bots?
Tuesday 26 April 2022 18:00 , Adam Smith
Removing Twitter bots could be a challenge for Elon Musk, David Mahdi, chief strategy officer at Sectigo, says:
“In removing all those Twitter bots, hopefully, Musk will look at best practices across the entire identity lifecycle. However, those implementing these practices must also be aware that on top of securing digital human identities, machine identities are also involved in the background. That includes the secure onboarding for all human and machine-related elements (I.e. validating human identities, as well as the related devices used for the interaction, I.e. mobile device, OS, etc.). We also need to think about how the software involved in securing our digital identities, acting as the ‘connective tissue’, needs strong cryptography, PKI and certificates. This implies that Musk’s changes should call for strong management of its total cryptographic foundation.”
Twitter’s share price falls day after Elon Musk purchase announced
Tuesday 26 April 2022 17:50 , Graeme Massie
The price of the company’s stock fell by more than three per cent during Tuesday morning trading, to less than $50 a share. The Twitter board have accepted a $54.20 pershare cash offer fromthe Tesla CEO, which will have to be accepted by shareholders and pass regulators before becomingfinal later this year.
What does Elon Musk’s takeover mean for the future of Twitter?
Tuesday 26 April 2022 17:45 , Graeme Massie
“The Twitter acquisition actually makes more sense than it at first appears”, Evan J. Zimmerman, an investor at venture capital firm Jovono, told The Independent.
Twitter is where much of the world’s most important communications actually happens. It is truly shocking that Twitter has struggled so much to monetize decently even though it is the only social media company where actually important, real-world events take place. And since our broken discourse has gotten in the way of our ability to get important things done, fixing Twitter would actually be good for humanity, though it would be in a different way than his other ventures. Elon got his start building software companies and has correctly identified Twitter’s biggest issues, particularly bots. As a huge Twitter user, he has probably been thinking about this for longer than his churlish manner appears.
“The main shock is that he was able to find financing for a deal that is shaping up to look like a rather reasonable LBO. One important question: given the amount of attention this will take from him and the importance of Tesla stock sales to finance the deal, is this a sign that Elon’s time as the CEO of Tesla will be coming to an end?”
What does Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover mean for climate disinformation?
Tuesday 26 April 2022 17:25 , Graeme Massie
‘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,’ Mr Musk tweeted after the sale was announced on Monday.
Louise Boyle has the story.
What does Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover mean for climate disinformation?
Elon Musk unusually quiet on Twitter after $44bn bid accepted
Tuesday 26 April 2022 16:57 , Graeme Massie
The Tesla CEO, normally a voracious tweeter has now not posted for 20-hours, since his “Yes!!!” tweet in the wake of his takeover of the social media platform being announced by the company.
Twitter CEO says this is ‘period of uncertainty’
Tuesday 26 April 2022 11:33 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Parag Agrawal, who took over from Jack Dorsey as CEO of Twitter last year, has told staff that he doesn’t know whic way the company is going to go after Elon Musk bought it.
“There is indeed uncertainty about what will happen after the deal closes,” Mr Agrawal reportedly told staff. “We will find a way to bring Elon in for a Q&A… We don’t have all the answers. This is a period of uncertainty.”
You can read the full story here.
Dogecoin price shoots up 30%
Tuesday 26 April 2022 10:36 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover seems to have had a major impact on the crypto market, most notably with dogecoin.
The meme-inspired cryptocurrency, which Musk has previously said could be the “currency of the internet”, shot up by more than 30 per cent overnight amid speculation that changes made to Twitter under Musk could prove favourable for dogecoin.
Musk, who once changed his Twitter bio to “CEO of Dogecoin” and described himself as “the Dogefather”, has said cracking down on crypto scams will be a top priority under his ownership.
You can read the full story here.
Dogecoin price sky rockets after Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover
Human rights groups raise hate-speech concerns on Twitter after Musk buyout
Tuesday 26 April 2022 08:05 , Vishwam Sankaran
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have raised concerns about hate speech on Twitter after Elon Musk’s deal to take over the company.
“Regardless of who owns Twitter, the company has human rights responsibilities to respect the rights of people around the world who rely on the platform. Changes to its policies, features, and algorithms, big and small, can have disproportionate and sometimes devastating impacts, including offline violence,” Deborah Brown, a digital rights researcher, told Reuters.
With Mr Musk calling free speech “the bedrock of a functioning democracy,” activists raise concerns that new policies may turn a blind eye to violent and abusive speech.
Twitter CEO admits they ‘don’t know’ what will happen to company under Musk
Tuesday 26 April 2022 07:56 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: Twitter’s CEO has told employees at a town hall meeting that the future of the platform is unclear after agreeing to sell to Elon Musk for $44bn.
Parag Agrawal spoke to employees at a town hall meeting just hours after the deal with the Tesla boss was announced, according to Reuters, which had access to it.
“Once the deal closes, we don’t know which direction the platform will go,” said Mr Agrawal, according tothe news organisation.
The company has told staff that Mr Musk will hold a question-and-answer session for them at a future date.
White house says Biden ‘has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms’
Tuesday 26 April 2022 07:03 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: White House press secretary Jen Psaki told her Monday press briefing that she was “not going to comment on a specific transition” but reiterated that the administration continues to believe that “no matter who owns or runs Twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms” and stressed that “tech platforms must be held accountable for the harms they cause.”
She pointed to bipartisan interest in Congress for antitrust measures and reforming section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
And she added: “Our concerns are not new. We’ve long talked about, and the president has long talked about, the powers of social media platforms … to spread misinformation, disinformation [and] the need for these platforms to be held accountable.”
Jameela Jamil quits Twitter after Elon Musk buys site for $44bn
Tuesday 26 April 2022 06:10 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: Jameela Jamil has announced that she’s leaving Twitter after news that Elon Musk has purchased the platform.
The Tesla founder successfully acquired the social media site on Monday (25 April) for around $44bn (£34.5bn). As a result, Twitter will now be a privately owned company.
Nicole Vassell has the story.
Jameela Jamil quits Twitter after Elon Musk buys site for $44bn
Elizabeth Warren calls Musk’s Twitter takeover ‘dangerous for our democracy’
Tuesday 26 April 2022 06:03 , Vishwam Sankaran
After Twitter accepted Tesla chief Elon Musk’s bid to take over the company for $44bn, US senator Elizabeth Warren said the deal is “dangerous for our democracy.”
“Billionaires like Elon Musk play by a different set of rules than everyone else, accumulating power for their own gain,” Ms Warren said on Tuesday.
She pointed to the need for a wealth tax and “strong rules” to “hold Big Tech accountable.”
Trump says he won’t return to Twitter but calls Elon Musk ‘a good man’
Tuesday 26 April 2022 05:04 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: Donald Trump has said he will not return to Twitter following the news that Elon Musk has bought the platform the former president was banned from.
Mr Trump made the announcement that he would not rejoin twitter despite the Tesla boss’s $44bn purchase, and instead said he wold use his own platform TRUTH Social.
Trump says he won’t return to Twitter but calls Elon Musk ‘a good man’
Jack Dorsey calls Elon Musk ‘singular solution’ he trusts
Tuesday 26 April 2022 04:30 , Vishwam Sankaran
Twitter co-founder and former chief Jack Dorsey says Elon Musk is the “singular solution” he trusts.
Sharing concerns about Twitter being “owned by Wall Street and the ad model”, Mr Dorsey said the platform being run as a company was always his “sole issue” and “biggest regret.”
“I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company,” he said.
“Solving for the problem of it being a company however,
Elon is the singular solution I trust,” the former Twitter chief added.
Elon Musk sends first tweet after buying Twitter
Tuesday 26 April 2022 04:06 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: Elon Musk has sent his first tweet after reaching an agreement to buy Twitter for around $44bn.
The company’s new owner posted the phrase “Yes!!!” surrounded by red hearts, shooting stars and rocket ship emojis, above his statement on the deal.
Elon Musk sends first tweet after buying Twitter
Twitter announces company will be sold to Tesla titan Elon Musk for $44bn
Tuesday 26 April 2022 03:03 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: Twitter has announced that the social media company will be sold to Tesla titan Elon Musk for around $44bn.
Mr Musk will pay $54.20 cash per share for the San Francisco-based company, which will now be taken private after days of intense negotiations between the entrepreneur and the platform’s board.
More details below.
Twitter announces company will be sold to Elon Musk
How much will Jack Dorsey make from selling Twitter to Elon Musk?
Tuesday 26 April 2022 02:31 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: Throughout Twitter’s often controversial existence, former CEO Jack Dorsey has been the face and essential identity of the company.
Mr Dorsey, who came to the tech world after twice dropping out of university and becoming a certified masseuse, founded the social media platform in 2006 with Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams.
More details below.
How much will Jack Dorsey make from selling Twitter to Elon Musk?
Elon Musk’s ten most notable tweets, from Covid-complaints to Bill Gates and Joe Biden-bashing
Tuesday 26 April 2022 02:01 , Graeme Massie
ICYMI: Tesla CEO and billionaire-personality Elon Musk has come one step closer to taking control of America’s most hotly debated social-media platform, Twitter, following his $46.bn (£36.6bn) bid for the San Fransisco-based firm.
Ahead of an expected announcement from Twitter of Musk’s takeover on Monday, The Independent has listed the billionaire’s most popular and controversial tweets from his 12 years and 10 months on the site, featuring Covid-19, the climate crisis and more.
Elon Musk’s ten most notable tweets
How to delete your Twitter account
Tuesday 26 April 2022 01:15 , Graeme Massie
Twitter’s decision to sell the company to Elon musk for $44bn has left some users seriously considering their future on the social media platform.
With Mr Musk promising to defend “free speech” and the prospect of banned right-wing figures, such as Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, potentially being welcomed back, critics are deleting their accounts, even as the businessman welcomed them on Twitter.
More details below.
How to delete your Twitter account
Jeff Bezos weighs in on Elon Musk buying Twitter
Tuesday 26 April 2022 01:01 , Graeme Massie
The world’s second richest man took to twitter to question China’s leverage over the Tesla CEO and Twitter.
“Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square?” he tweeted.
Elon Musk sends first tweet after buying Twitter
Monday 25 April 2022 21:06 , Graeme Massie
Elon Musk has sent his first tweet after reaching an agreement to buy Twitter for around $44bn.
The company’s new owner posted the phrase “Yes!!!” surrounded by red hearts, shooting stars and rocket ship emojis, above his statement on the deal.
Twitter announces company will be sold to Tesla titan Elon Musk for $44bn
Monday 25 April 2022 20:03 , Graeme Massie
Twitter’s board announces that the company will be sold to Elon Musk for around $44bn.
What are Elon Musk’s politics?
Monday 25 April 2022 19:47 , Graeme Massie
Elon Musk has claimed that he wants to stay “out of politics” but has made numerous criticisms of the US government.
In early December, he hammered US president Joe Biden’s flagship infrastructure and social spending bills for granting unnecessary subsidies to the electric car industry and increasing the “insane” federal budget deficit.
The 50-year-old’s exact politics can be hard to pin down. He has donated often to both Democrats and Republicans while variously declaring himself a “moderate”, a “socialist”, and “socially liberal and fiscally conservative”.
According to data gathered by the non-profit lobbying watchdog Open Secrets, Elon Musk has given a total of $1.2m to politicians, parties, political action committees (PACs), and referendum campaigns since 2002.
That money went almost equally to Democrats, with $542,000, and Republicans, with $574,500, with another $85,000 going to two broadly left-wing referendum campaigns in California. The balance has fluctuated over the years: in 2006, 2013 and 2017 he donated overwhelmingly to Republicans, while in 2015 he gave exclusively to Democrats.
Devin Nunes says Trump won’t go back to Twitter if Musk buys it claiming his much mocked Truth Social has better engagement
Monday 25 April 2022 19:15 , Graeme Massie
Supporters of former president Donald Trump who are cheering Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter as a sign that the ex-president’s permanent ban from the platform may be lifted under new ownership will be disappointed to hear that he has no plans to return to the social network that helped fuel his unprecedented rise to the presidency.
Andrew Feinberg has the story.
Devin Nunes says Trump won’t go back to Twitter if Musk buys it
Marjorie Taylor Greene claims Elon Musk will restore her banned Twitter account
Monday 25 April 2022 18:21 , Graeme Massie
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was among those on the right celebrating what looks to be Elon Musk’s impending takeover of Twitter on Monday.
The Georgia representative saw her personal account permanently banned from the site on 2 January of this year after she repeatedly used the account to share false or easily disprovable claims about Covid-19, includin a blatantly false assertion that the Covid-19 vaccine was dangerous and leading to thousands of deaths in the US.
John Bowden has more details.
Marjorie Taylor Greene claims Elon Musk will restore her banned Twitter account
Elon Musk will bring Trump back to Twitter — and that’s just the beginning
Monday 25 April 2022 18:06 , Graeme Massie
Mr Musk claims he wants to push Twitter to allow more free speech. But really he’s just changing the editorial stance of a private company to publish more conservative speech, like Fox taking over the New York Times.
Noah Berlatsky has more.
Elon Musk will bring Trump back to Twitter — and that’s just the beginning
Five ways Twitter will change under Elon Musk
Monday 25 April 2022 17:47 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Elon Musk is already the head of four major endeavours: Neuralink, SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company.
One wants to connect people’s brains directly to computers, another wants to colonise Mars, while Tesla is the world’s most valuable car maker. Oh, and The Boring Company has the ambitious goal of eliminating traffic.
Working one day a week on each, Musk just about has the bandwidth to add one more massive role to his multi-hyphenated job title. But what exactly does he want to do with it?
Here’s five ways Twitter might change under his ownership:
Five ways Twitter could change under Elon Musk
Elon Musk welcomes his ‘worst critics’ to stay on Twitter as platform set to accept his $43bn bid
Monday 25 April 2022 17:46 , Graeme Massie
Elon Musk has urged his “worst critics” to stay on Twitter as the platform’s board is expected to accept the Tesla titan’s $43bn cash offer for the company.
Mr Musk took to Twitter amid reports he could become its owner as early as Monday, and wrote, “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
Elon Musk welcomes his ‘worst critics’ to stay on Twitter
Monday 25 April 2022 17:30 , Adam Smith
On the other hand, Mr Musk’s statements about social issues have rarely been as vociferous or clear as his economic views. Indeed, he has often sent contrary signals and occasionally seemed to flirt with social conservatism.
Last spring, for instance, he told followers to “take the red pill”, a phrase used by white supremacists and anti-feminists to describe the process of being radicalised into their worldview.
At the time, he was engaged in a crusade against California’s Covid lockdown policies, which he described as “fascist”. He had declared early in the pandemic that “the coronavirus panic is dumb” and that there virus would be gone from America by the end of April.
That July he tweeted the statement “pronouns suck”, which was interpreted by many as a dig at transgender people (since pronouns themselves are a fundamental and inescapable part of the English language).
His then-girlfriend Claire Boucher, aka the electronic musician Grimes, certainly read it that way, responding: “I love you but please turn off ur phone or give me a call. I cannot support hate. Please stop this. I know this isn’t your heart.”
Monday 25 April 2022 17:00 , Adam Smith
The way Mr Musk explains it, these donations do not really signal much about his own personal beliefs. Instead he describes them as simply the cost of doing business in America.
“In order to have your voice be heard in Washington, you have to make some little contribution,” he told the Huffington Post in 2013. “But… I haven’t found Washington to be as corrupt as a lot of people think it is, meaning it’s not as coin-operated as some people may assume, and I’m very actually grateful for that, because if it were we would have zero chance.”
Musk posts a cryptic tweet
Monday 25 April 2022 16:44 , Adam Smith
Elon Musk has just tweeted the elusive statement: “And be my love in the rain”.
This is possibly a reference to the Robert Frost poem, a A Line-storm Song.
The subsequent paragraph reads:
The birds have less to say for themselves In the wood-world’s torn despairThan now these numberless years the elves, Although they are no less there: All song of the woods is crushed like some Wild, easily shattered rose. Come, be my love in the wet woods; come, Where the boughs rain when it blows.
Monday 25 April 2022 16:03 , Adam Smith
If this deal goes through, it would be one of the largest buyouts in corporate history
Twitter is poised to accept the deal
Monday 25 April 2022 16:02 , Adam Smith
Twitter will agree a sale to Elon Musk for $43 billion in cash, Reuters now reports.
It could be announced later on Monday, once its board has met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, according to unnamed sources.
Twitter cannot solicit other bids once the deal is signed, but would be able to accept an offer from another party if it pays Mr Musk a break-up fee.