Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has welcomed the acquisition of the microblogging platform by an entity owned by Elon Musk, saying the Tesla CEO's goal of creating a platform that is "maximally trusted and broadly inclusive" is the right one.
"I love Twitter. Twitter is the closest thing we have to a global consciousness…The idea and service is all that matters to me, and I will do whatever it takes to protect both. Twitter as a company has always been my sole issue and my biggest regret. It has been owned by Wall Street and the ad model. Taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step," Dorsey says in a series of tweets after the acquisition announcement was made public.
Twitter on Monday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk, for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at around $44 billion. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company.
"In principle, I don't believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness," Dorsey tweeted.
The Twitter co-founder further added that this is also the company's current chief executive Parag Agrawal's goal. "Thank you both for getting the company out of an impossible situation. This is the right path...I believe it with all my heart," Dorsey says. "I'm so happy Twitter will continue to serve the public conversation. Around the world, and into the stars!"
As part of the deal, Twitter shareholders 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% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Musk disclosed his 9.1% stake in Twitter.
"The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus 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," says Bret Taylor, chairman of the Twitter board.
The Tesla CEO has secured a financing commitment of $46.5 billion to acquire Twitter. Musk has secured $25.5 billion of fully committed debt and margin loan financing and is providing an approximately $21 billion equity commitment.
"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," says Musk. "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. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."
The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Twitter board of directors, is expected to close in 2022, subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders, the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
