Elon Musk agreed to acquire Twitter for $44 billion on Monday, vowing a more lenient approach to content policing on the network where he promotes his interests, criticizes opponents, and offers his thoughts on social and economic concerns to over 83 million followers.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is also the world’s wealthiest person, has stated that he wants to buy and privatize Twitter because he believes it is not living up to its potential as a free expression platform.
Musk said in a joint statement with Twitter that he wants to make the service “better than ever” with new features including eliminating automated “spam bots” and making the site’s algorithms transparent to the public to boost confidence.
“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,” he said.
The agreement was reached just two weeks after the billionaire revealed he had a 9% share in the company. Musk announced last week that he had secured $46.5 billion in funding to purchase Twitter, putting pressure on the board of directors to reach an agreement.
Twitter’s board of directors unanimously authorized the deal, according to the company. Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who had been planning to stand down from the board in May, is one of the 11 members of the board. The purchase, according to Twitter, is likely to close this year and is subject to approval from Twitter investors and regulators.
