Billionaire and CEO of Tesla Elon Musk is out to become the new owner of social media company Twitter. Earlier this month, he announced plans to buy the company for $54.20 per share or a cumulative bid of $43 million. His intention to acquire Twitter has stirred different opinions across the social media space.
Elon Musk says he’s looking to “change” Twitter as a company. In his opinion, Twitter needs to go through some major changes. He had earlier announced plans to start his own social media company just like Donald Trump after he criticized Twitter for impeding free speech. He has since decided to buy Twitter and bring the company up to his taste.
According to Elon Musk, “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.” This information came in a letter he sent to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor and disclosed in a securities filing.
“I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before my investment was publicly announced,” he wrote. “My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” he added.
Twitter’s board has been pushing against Elon Musk’s ambition to buy Twitter, going as far as pulling the “poison pill” card. The decision was reached after a unanimous vote by Twitter’s board. Under this structure, if any individual or group acquires beneficial ownership of at least 15 percent of the company’s outstanding common stock without the board’s approval, other shareholders will be allowed to buy additional shares at a discounted rate. The board seems to have been accepting the idea of selling Twitter according to new reports.
Twitter shares were up 5 percent in pre-market trading on Monday on announcements that the company was considering Elon Musk’s bid. Although it is still quite a mystery what the final deal could look like, reports have it that a deal could be reached on Monday.
Here are five things bound to change if Elon Musk acquires Twitter;
Elon Musk wants to privatize the company
Elon Musk’s biggest plan for Twitter is to make it a private company. He is offering to buy 100 percent of the company’s shares. According to him, privatizing the company is the first step to becoming a platform for free speech.
Twitter’s board will receive no compensation for serving
Last week Monday, Elon Musk said that if his plan to acquire Twitter pulls through, the company’s board of directors will not be compensated for serving under the board. His controversial tweet reads “Board Salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s that’s ~$3M/year saved right there.”
Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there
Currently, Twitter board members receive compensations of almost $3 million every year.
Elon Musk wants twitter to be an insignia of free speech
The ‘scuffle’ between Elon Musk and Twitter started after he criticized the company for not pushing for free speech on its platform. Hence the reason for his acquisition. Elon Musk recognizes the power Twitter has and the roles platforms like Twitter play in government, civil rights, democracy, and life generally. Elon Musk argues that Twitter needs to be privatized so that it can reach its full potential that’ll see it become a platform for “true” free speech.
Marc Morial, the President of the National Urban League, recently said that Twitter’s board should consider rejecting Elon Musk’s bid for the company as owning the company could mean causing damage to the safety of Twitter users. In a recent letter sent to Bret Taylor, the Chairman of Twitter’s board, Marc Morial said that Elon Musk’s views surrounding social media and Twitter to be exact raise a lot of concerns. According to him, Elon Musk’s views are in contrast to principles such as creating a safe online community, protecting marginalized groups, and the democracy of the nation, which guide social media companies like Twitter.
Elon Musk wants Twitter to have an edit button
Have you ever tried to correct a wrongly-spelled word on your caption on Twitter? Have you also tried to edit that tweet and couldn’t find the edit button? Well, this is one thing that Elon Musk thinks Twitter should incorporate into its platform. Although he has a few ideas like already shared posts should lose their likes and retweet, having an edit button on Twitter seems like a great idea. Even Elon Musk’s fans think the same. 73.6 percent out of 4 million people that voted on a poll Elon shared on if an edit button is needed for Twitter voted YES.
Elon Musk wants Twitter to fight cryptocurrency scams on the platform
Elon Musk wants Twitter to up its security and efforts in dealing with cryptocurrency scams and accounts impersonating people just to get cryptocurrency out of people.
He’s also of the opinion that Twitter is not doing enough to fight off crypto spambots. According to him, crypto spam bots are the “single most annoying thing” on Twitter. He even tweeted that “we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!” and “authenticate all real humans.”
Other plans Elon Musk has for Twitter includes;
Putting Twitter’s code on GitHub and leaving it open to public scrutiny. “The code should be on GitHub so it can be examined. I just think it’s important to the function of democracy in the United States and other countries. The civilizational risk is decreased if we can increase the trust in Twitter as a public platform,” Elon Musk said.
Opening up Twitter’s algorithm. Elon Musk wants Twitter’s algorithm to be open-source even though he didn’t give an in-depth meaning of what he meant. However, open-source software is freely available and can be altered. Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey seems to agree with this as he tweeted “The choice of which algorithm to use (or not) should be open to everyone.”
Ibhadojemu Lucky Emmanuel is a graduate of Education and Economics from the University of Benin. He has a passion for tech and business and has been writing professionally for over a period of five years. He's written across various topics and segments and knew tech-business was it when he first stumbled on it. He has a great passion for music and arts, and wants to visit as many countries as he can someday.
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