Twitter confirms sale of company to Elon Musk for USD 44 billion - Here's all you need to know

Twitter on Monday (local time) confirmed the sale of the company to Tesla Chief Elon Musk for USD 44 billion.

"Free speech": Elon Musk

The outspoken Tesla CEO, the world's wealthiest person, has said he wants to buy Twitter because he thinks it's not living up to its potential as a platform for "free speech." He says it needs to be transformed as a private company in order to build trust with users and do better at serving what he calls the "societal imperative" of free speech.

"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," Musk said in a statement.

"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," he added.

What did Twitter say?

Twitter said it will become a privately held company after the sale is closed.

"Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world," its CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet. "Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."

The deal

Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive USD 54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk's original offer and marking a 38 per cent premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company, CNN reported.

It further reported that the deal caps off a whirlwind news cycle in which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO became one of Twitter's largest shareholders, was offered and turned down a seat on its board and bid to buy the company -- all in less than a month.

Here's how it all started

The deal comes after Musk revealed last week he had lined up USD 46.5 billion in financing to acquire the company, an apparent turning point that forced Twitter's board to seriously consider the deal. The board met Sunday to evaluate Musk's offer.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal in a statement said "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."