By The FirstAs buyout talks heat up, with many outlets reporting a deal could be announced today, Elon Musk has a message for people threatening to leave Twitter: don’t.
“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” Musk tweeted.
“Twitter had been expected to rebuff the offer, which Mr. Musk made April 14 without saying how he would pay for it, and put in place a so-called poison pill to block him from increasing his stake. But after the Tesla Inc. TSLA -0.83%chief disclosed that he has $46.5 billion in financing and the stock market swooned, Twitter changed its posture and opened the door to negotiations,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The potential turnabout on Twitter’s part comes after Mr. Musk met privately Friday with several shareholders of the company to extol the virtues of his proposal while repeating that the board has a “yes-or-no” decision to make, according to people familiar with the matter. He also pledged to solve the free-speech issues he sees as plaguing the platform and the country more broadly, whether his bid succeeds or not, they said.“
Twitter HQ and Elon Musk were both trending on the social media platform on Monday. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis weighed in, saying “.@elonmusk’s offer to buy Twitter is a good deal for shareholders and raises the prospect that the platform will be a place where free speech can thrive, not a tool for narrative enforcement.”
