• In early April, Musk initially buys a block of shares in Twitter – and then wants the entire company
• A hostile takeover becomes a peaceful agreement
• Then Musk no longer wants to buy Twitter – but he has to
Hardly anyone would have thought at the beginning of the year that the Twitter share would no longer be freely tradable on the stock exchanges at the end of 2022. Also the reason for this – the acquisition by Elon Musk – could not have come up with the best storytellers. But in October 2022, Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase became a reality. However, the takeover was anything but a linear process: Musk first wanted to buy Twitter, but then he decided not to, in the end he had to. How did this confusion come about?
Early April: Musk buys a large block of Twitter shares – and is allowed to join the board of directors
On April 4th, Elon Musk’s buildup of a large Twitter stake was made public. According to a document from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by then he had already bought a hefty $2.9 billion in Twitter stock, equivalent to 73.5 million Twitter shares. Musk promptly became the largest single shareholder in the online news service: 9.2 percent of the company was in his hands at the time. Noting Musk’s significant stake in the company, then-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced on April 5 that the Tesla CEO would be moving to Twitter’s board of directors.
Mid-April: Musk launches hostile takeover attempt
Five days later, it was revealed that Musk had turned down the board position offered by Agrawal. The sensational news followed on April 13: Musk started with a hostile takeover of Twitter. He announced that he would buy Twitter shareholders’ shares at a price of $54.20 each. This was quite a lucrative business for the owners of the Twitter shares, as the shares were just under 40 US dollars immediately before the takeover gamble on April 1st. Twitter shares soared after the announcement, but didn’t reach $54.20 because investors didn’t quite trust the deal. There were good reasons for investors’ distrust, as was to become apparent in the coming months.
Late April: Twitter and Musk jointly reach agreement
On April 25, another interesting turn followed: Instead of Musk’s hostile takeover attempt, a temporary agreement was reached between the news platform and the richest man in the world: The tech multi-billionaire would take over Twitter and pay the sum of US$ 44 billion -raise dollars. Price per share remained at the previously announced $54.20. Musk vowed he will make Twitter “better than ever.” He wants to develop it into a “global platform for freedom of speech” without any censorship. However, most media experts were skeptical and expressed their fear that Musk would limit the fight against fake news and hate speech. The May 10 announcement by the Tesla boss, ex-president donald trump Wanting to allow again gave the critics further cause for concern.
Mid-May: Musk puts Twitter purchase plans on hold
The apparent harmony between Musk and the Twitter leadership was short-lived. On May 13, Musk suddenly put his purchase plans on hold. As long as there are no details on the calculation of the number of spam and fake accounts on the network, the Tesla CEO does not want to take over the news platform.
Early July: Musk cancels Twitter takeover – but Twitter wants to sue
On July 8, previous assumptions became official: Musk canceled the Twitter purchase. His lawyers accused the US company of having made “false and misleading” statements in the acquisition agreement. The main point of the dispute was still supposed spam and fake accounts. At this point, it seemed like Musk wasn’t going to buy Twitter after all. At least he had probably lost interest in it – but Musk seemed to have made the bill without Twitter. Immediately after Musk’s rejection, Twitter announced that it would force the tech billionaire to buy the platform as part of a court process.
July to October: Twitter initiates proceedings against Musk
On July 12, Twitter filed its lawsuit against Musk in the Delaware court specializing in business disputes. Breach of contract was the accusation. Several procedural steps followed, and the start of the actual trial was scheduled for October 17th. At this point, everything seemed headed toward a court hearing, but even those expectations were eventually to be proven wrong.
Early October: Musk seeks reconciliation with Twitter
On October 4, Musk then made another unexpected U-turn: he wanted to buy Twitter after all on the terms agreed in April. The only requirement for his new purchase bid: the court process is canceled. The responsible judge Kathaleen McCormick responded to this request and called on Musk and Twitter to reach a joint solution. She postponed the court date to October 28.
October 27: Musk officially takes over Twitter – Twitter shares no longer tradable
Finally, one day before the deadline, Musk officially became the sole owner of Twitter. On Oct. 27, Twitter’s stock was delisted from the NYSE, paying shareholders an agreed $54.20 a share. Musk immediately began a massive restructuring of the company: the management team around ex-CEO Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal were fired, and many leaders resigned themselves. On November 4, Musk then continued the job cuts on Twitter: 3,738 of the 7,500 employees received their notice of termination via email. In addition, Twitter had to accept a significant drop in sales, as international corporations such as Volkswagen, Mondelez and Pfizer as well as the advertising giant IPG paused their advertising on the online service after Musk’s takeover. So it was anything but an easy start for Musk as the new owner of Twitter, especially since Tesla stock also suffered from the Twitter antics of its CEO and lost significantly in value in the fall of 2022.
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