Yahoo FinanceTwitter considers Elon Musk’s takeover bid as Twitterverse reacts
Twitter was still assessing billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover bid, chief executive officer Parag Agrawal told employees on Thursday.
During a meeting, Agrawal sought to reassure employees the company was not being "held hostage" by news of the Tesla and SpaceX boss’s offer to buy the company, a source told Reuters.
As Agrawal took questions from staff on the company's Slack messaging service, he encouraged employees to remain focused and told them: "We, as employees, control what happens", said the source, who did not want to be identified because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.
Also read: Twitter not 'held hostage' by Musk: CEO
Also read: Elon Musk wants to destroy Twitter’s rules — that would make it a scary place
How it happened
After declining a seat on Twitter’s board earlier this week, the company’s largest stakeholder offered to buy the social media platform in its entirety.
He laid a cool $58 billion (US$43 billion) on the table, offering $73 (US$54.20) per share in cash, which was a premium of about 20 per cent over yesterday's opening price.
Musk planned to take the company private to help it realise its “potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe”.
“Twitter has extraordinary potential,” he said. “I will unlock it.”
Reactions
Many Twitter users were concerned Musk’s takeover could signal the end to checks on user-generated content.
Others welcomed the move.
“I’m going to leave Twitter if Elon Musk takes over” is the new “I’m going to move to Canada if Trump wins”.
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) April 14, 2022
What's the big deal with @elonmusk buying Twitter? #ElonMusk pic.twitter.com/Hp5Y3aeoDO
— Anthony B. Bradley, PhD (@drantbradley) April 14, 2022
The fact that the biggest fear in Twitter is losing the ability to ‘moderate content’ says it all. #ElonMusk
— Shivani Gupta (@ShivaniGupta_5) April 14, 2022
-With AAP
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