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Why is Elon Musk buying Twitter? Billionaire's net worth and Twitter stock
Twitter is in discussions over a sale to Elon Musk with the deal expected to be finalised over the next few days.
Despite initial opposition to Musk taking over the company, the company looks set to change hands after Musk filed details of funding for his bid which is thought to be around $43bn.
Twitter’s decision to enter talks marked a huge shift by the social media company – here's everything you need to know about the deal.
Why does Elon Musk want to buy Twitter?
Musk has said that his interest in the social media giant is primarily motivated by an overhaul of its content-moderation policies and promoting what he described as free speech on the platform.
Musk said in a letter to the board this month that Twitter is “the platform for free speech around the world” but cannot achieve this “societal imperative” in its current form and “needs to be transformed as a private company”.
The Telsa owner is a prolific user of the social media platform with more than 83 million followers.
Before the opening bell on Monday, shares of Twitter rose 5%.
How much has Elon Musk offered for Twitter?
On April 14, Mr Musk announced an offer to buy the social media platform for 54.20 dollars (£42.20) per share, or about 43 billion dollars (£33.5 billion), but did not say at the time how he would finance the acquisition.
Musk has been increasing his stake in Twitter this year and made an offered to buy the company that was initially dismissed, with the company adopting a poison pill defence of trying to make the sale less attractive.
The company issued new shares made available to current shareholders, excluding Mr Musk, that are worth double.
According to reports, however, Musk has presented a $46.5bn financing package, including $25.5bn in debt from a group of banks led by Morgan Stanley, his financial adviser, and $21bn in fresh equity.
How much is Elon Musk worth?
Elon Musk is the richest man in the world. According to Forbes he is worth $269.7bn (£212bn), owning 21% of electric vehicle company Tesla with Musk’s company, SpaceX, valued at £74bn.
He was the 35th richest person in the world at the start of 2020, before surpassing Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, reaching the top of the tree in January 2021.
Musk, who grew up in South Africa, before moving to Canada at the of age 17, had roles at Paypal where he served as CEO and has a founded numerous other companies.
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