Status: 04/26/2022 04:05 a.m
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Tesla boss Musk buys the short message service Twitter for almost $44 billion. The deal has excited some analysts who hope Musk will make Twitter more attractive to influencers.
Von Katharina Wilhelm, ARD-Studio Los Angeles
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The takeover was evaluated by some US media as an election or a rocket launch: there were live tickers that reported the smallest rumors – until it was clear: Twitter is being sold to billionaire Elon Musk.
Katharina Wilhelm
ARD-Studio Los Angeles
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According to estimates, the richest man in the world will not only be the head of an electric car company, a space and tunnel drilling company, but he will also own one of the largest and most important social media platforms in the world.
$ 54.20 per share
Musk is buying the company for $54.20 per share. He had borrowed the money from various banks. A portion is backed by his Tesla shares.
The deal is complete if shareholders agree. Musk had phoned and persuaded some important shareholders last week, because the board had actually wanted to prevent the takeover.
Perhaps this will save Twitter, says market expert Thomas Hayes in an interview with Yahoo Finance:
I think this is the best thing that could have happened to Twitter. Twitter has become an abandoned building with graffiti on the walls in a bad neighborhood. Elon will wash away the graffiti and make the building taller. I think influencers who have been quieter on Twitter are becoming more active again because if anyone can convince them – it’s Elon Musk.
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Musk wants to take Twitter private
Musk has not yet publicly presented his concrete plans. But he let it be known that he wanted to take Twitter out of the stock market, and that the board should no longer receive a salary.
Musk emphasized: It’s not about making a lot of money with Twitter, but about freedom of expression, he explained in mid-April:
We need an inclusive arena for free speech. People need to be assured that they are free to express their opinions there, within the bounds of the law. I think Twitter should disclose its algorithm. And if something is changed, for example to a tweet, it should be visible that something was done there.
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US billionaire Elon Musk buys short message service Twitter
Torben Börgers, ARD Washington, Morning Magazine, April 26, 2022
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More transparency, more freedom
Musk calls for more transparency – but also more freedom for users. The billionaire had repeatedly criticized that in his view too much was being censored on Twitter.
The billionaire, who himself has more than 80 million followers on Twitter, is very active on the platform himself. Which got him in trouble. For example, the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of making misleading statements when he tweeted that he wanted to take Tesla private.
There was also a defamation lawsuit against Musk. He had criticized a lifeguard in 2018 in connection with the cave drama about a group of children locked up in Thailand and called it a ‘pedophile’.
In the White House emphasizes unimpressed
The White House was emphatically unimpressed by the Twitter deal. Press spokeswoman Jen Psaki pointed out that the social media companies as a whole were being closely monitored – including Twitter:
“Regardless of who owns Twitter, the President has long had concerns about the power of large social media platforms. He believes tech platforms must be held accountable for the harm they cause. And he is optimistic because both political camps agree.
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There is already a heated discussion in the USA as to whether this also means that former US President Donald Trump will be allowed back on Twitter. He was suspended from Twitter after the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump told Fox news channel that he didn’t want to go back to Twitter. Earlier this year, Trump launched his own social network, Truth Social.
Elon Musk buys Twitter
Katharina Wilhelm, ARD Los Angeles, April 25, 2022 10:06 p.m
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