Twitter's board has accepted a $44 billion (€39 billion) offer to sell the company to Elon Musk, handing control of the influential social media platform to the world's richest man.
"The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing," said Bret Taylor, Twitter chair, in a statement on Monday.
He added: “The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”
Twitter shareholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the transaction. The purchase price represents a 38 per cent premium to the company’s closing price on April 1st, the day before Musk announced he had amassed a 9 per cent stake in the company.
After Musk first made his offer for the platform, Twitter launched a poison pill to limit his ability to gain a substantial shareholding. But the board was forced to the negotiating table at the weekend after he secured financing for the deal.
If completed, it would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history - a feat that few on Wall Street thought possible given the size of the transaction.
Trading in shares of the company was halted ahead of the announcement.
Musk, a prolific Twitter user with more than 83mn followers, has said he plans to “unlock” the company’s potential to be “the platform for free speech around the globe”, and has promised to change its content moderation policies.
Republicans are hopeful this could pave the way for Donald Trump to return to the platform, after the former president was banned for repeatedly breaching its rules around hate speech and misinformation.
“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” Musk tweeted earlier on Monday.
The White House did not comment specifically on the move by Elon Musk to buy Twitter but said President Joe Biden had long been concerned about the power of social media platforms.
“Our concerns are not new,” said White House spokesperson Jen Psaki. She said the social media platforms needed to be held accountable.
“The president has long talked about his concerns about the power of social media platforms, including Twitter and others, to spread misinformation.”
But she said the White House would not comment on an individual transaction.
Separately former president Donald Trump told US network Fox News that he did not plan to return to Twitter even if new owner Elon Musk lifted the lifetime ban from the platform that had been imposed on him after the January 6th riot s when his supporters stormed the US Capitol in Washington to try delay the certification of the election of Joe Biden as president in early 2020.
Mr Trump said he will start using his own Truth Social platform instead of Twitter during the next week. - The Financial Times with additional reporting by Martin Wall
