Twitter has accepted Elon Musk’s renewed offer to buy the platform for $44 billion after Musk said he would go ahead with the deal in an SEC filing on Monday.
And he’s back: In the latest in the on-again, off-again saga on the future of Twitter, the Tesla CEO committed to proceeding with his initial offer to buy the platform, according to an SEC filing from Musk on Monday.
The filing says that Musk will proceed with closing the April merger agreement, pending debt financing and an immediate stay in the case of Twitter v. Musk before the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Twitter’s on board: “We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC,” a Twitter spokesperson said. “The intention of the company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share.”
The about-face from Musk comes before a five-day trial in Delaware is set to begin October 17.
Twitter did not immediately say whether it will continue to pursue the case in court.
Threat to democracy: However, progressive and government watchdog groups were quick to raise alarms about the threats a Musk-owned Twitter would pose to democracy and elections if he were to take over.
“This deal seems like it’s just about making shareholders happy and feeding Musk’s enormous ego,” Jessica Gonzalez, co-CEO of Free Press, a nonpartisan media advocacy organization, said in a statement.
“Twitter should instead focus on protecting civil and human rights, public health and safety, and our democracy.”
Return of Trump: Musk — a self-described “free-speech absolutist” — has said he would want less moderation of content on the platform, which could end up removing rules against hate speech and extremist content currently on the site.
It could also lead to the return of former president Donald Trump, who was banned after he violated the platform’s incitement of violence rules surrounding the January 6 insurrection.
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