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As little as a week ago, the idea of Elon Musk actually buying out Twitter and taking it private, or even just taking a controlling interest, seemed to be increasingly unlikely. Questions had been raised as to whether or not Musk could actually come up with the cash to buy up the company’s stock. Some were opining that the whole thing was a prank from the beginning and Musk would eventually grow tired of the joke and drop it. But over the weekend, the narrative shifted yet again. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk at least claims to have secured more than $45 billion that he’s ready to put on the line. And in an even more surprising development, the board of directors at Twitter, perhaps in response to unrest among the shareholders, was taking a fresh look at the offer and might be ready to negotiate.
Twitter Inc. is in discussions to sell itself to Elon Musk and could finalize a deal as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said, a dramatic turn of events just 10 days after the billionaire unveiled his $43 billion bid for the social-media company.
The two sides met Sunday to discuss Mr. Musk’s proposal and were making progress, though still had issues to hash out, the people said. There is no guarantee they will reach a deal.
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 -0.37% 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 reported earlier Sunday.
So how real is this news? Some unnamed “sources close to the deal” are reportedly saying that it could happen as soon as today. Others believe that the board would never announce a decision until Thursday when they are scheduled to release their quarterly revenue figures. Rather than stumbling over ideological debates about free speech and related issues, the main question this morning seems to be how much the board thinks Twitter is worth, how much Musk thinks it’s worth, and how far apart those two numbers are.
We’re also seeing less talk about the supposed “poison pill” that the board has up its sleeves. If they try to dilute the shares significantly it could certainly make it harder for Musk to close the deal, but it would also further weaken the value of the existing shares held by the company’s shareholders. Musk spent the weekend reaching out to various shareholders, including some large investment funds, making his case for a clean buyout. And the views of those shareholders could well be what’s driving the board’s decision-making process at this point. After all, if it can be shown that the board members are not acting in the best interest of shareholder profits, they could be setting themselves up for court challenges and penalties.
So what happens if we see a breaking news flash coming out any time between now and the end of the week saying that Elon Musk has pulled it off? Clearly, that will be the end of the world, at least according to liberal media outlets who are petrified that Elon might make good on his threats to act as a “free speech absolutist.” Many of these liberal elites have been joined by former conservatives and never-Trumpers like Max Boot in saying that we need even more “content moderation,” not less.
I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter. He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.
— Max Boot 🇺🇦 (@MaxBoot) April 14, 2022
This is just one more example of how liberals have bastardized the English language in an effort to pull off some sort of cultural revolution. Just as “misinformation” became the dangerous new buzzword for what used to be known as “differing opinions,” we now see “content moderation” being inserted into debates as a soft and fuzzy replacement for “censorship.” And while it’s true that Twitter can’t technically impinge your right to free speech (only the government can do that), they can most certainly censor you on one of the broadest and most closely watched global platforms for political speech in the world today.
Elon Musk told us that Twitter has tremendous potential and he’s the guy to “unlock that potential.” I’m still not 100% convinced that this sale is going to happen, but if it does, I’ll be watching with interest to see if Musk delivers on those vows.
Source: This post first appeared on HotAir
