This past week billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk purchased a 9% stake in Twitter, triggering worries that the self-described "free speech absolutist" would push for significant reform of the social media platform. However, plans for Musk to join Twitter's board of directors abruptly went awry and were canceled, leading to questions of what Musk would do next. That question has now been answered, as Thursday morning Musk offered to purchase Twitter in its entirety for a staggering $41 billion price tag.Musk made a post on Twitter, fittingly, with a short message reading, "I made an offer." The post contained a link to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that contained his offer to purchase 100% of Twitter. His offer was for a price of $54.20 per share, which would come to a total price of around $41 billion. Musk explains that this is his "best and final offer," and explains that if it isn't accepted he'll reconsider his previous investments in Twitter.Twitter has already held a board meeting to discuss the possibility of Musk purchasing the company, which is said to have occurred at 10:00 AM ET. The conclusions drawn from that meeting have not been shared publicly. However, Twitter plans to hold an all-hands meeting at 5:00 PM ET to discuss the potential buyout. A timeline for a response to Musk's bid isn't clear, but few are expecting the current process to move slowly.
As for why Musk wants Twitter and what he'd do with it if the acquisition is confirmed, there's no clear answer. There are absolutely threads that may lead to reliable assumptions, though. After his initial Twitter stock purchase this past week, Musk wrote a letter to Twitter's board claiming that the company in its current form was not able to achieve the "social imperative" of delivering a "platform for free speech around the world." In other words, Musk wants to see dramatic change at Twitter.
Many speculate that Musk would dramatically reduce Twitter's moderation efforts, policies that are already heavily criticized as not going far enough to protect women, minorities, and LGBT+ users. For example, there's already a large movement asking Musk to remove Twitter's ban on former President Donald Trump if his acquisition is successful.
Others believe that Musk sees Twitter as a business opportunity with the potential to unlock significantly more value through advertising and subscription offerings. Removing moderation could be one part of that, to increase activity and new users, but in an effort to monetize the platform. Whatever Musk's intention with Twitter, change is likely coming to the platform whether it accepts the acquisition or not.