SAN FRANCISCO – Shares of social media giant Twitter skyrocketed as the microblogging platform is close to a takeover deal with SpaceX founder and business magnate Elon Musk, who put together a mammoth package of $46.5 billion.
People familiar with the development told a publication that the social network is in advanced discussions to make a deal with Elon Musk – who himself is quite active on social platforms. However, Twitter and Elon representatives avoided commenting on the matter.
The much-anticipated deal is likely to be announced after the market closes on Monday, if not sooner, reports said.
Twitter officials earlier met Tesla co-founder on weekend over negotiations as the latter came up with a $43 billion offer.
Twitter who handled an average of 1.6 billion search queries per day, initially snubbed Musk’s approach following a series of negotiations.
Tensions were running high as users of the platform, including many global firms and leaders, are contemplating what the service could look like under the watch of the world’s richest person.
Musk will shape the social media giant to his vision as ‘free speech absolutist’. His recent letter to the board said 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 firm, reports said.
As Musk wanted to reshape the company, workers reportedly felt astounded by the development in recent times. Twitter management even called an emergency meeting to discuss things at length.
Musk, who is considered among the top tech pioneers, had secured the funding for the mega deal after he acquired around 9 percent of the social platform, making him the shareholder with a big chunk.
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Earlier, the US-based social networking site enacted an anti-takeover step, which many called a poison pill, to curb Musk’s attempt. However, it decided to go to talks later.
