Elon Musk moves to buy Twitter in hostile takeover

Tesla CEO Elon Musk initiated a hostile takeover of Twitter, Inc this morning after filing an offer letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The letter offered to buy 100% of the social media platform in cash at $54.20 per share, totaling $43 billion. Twitter’s market cap is $36.71 billion. 

The richest man in the world has been eerily quiet since becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder on Monday and then declining a seat on its board of directors. Many speculated that Musk refused to join the board in order to retain the ability to conduct a hostile takeover of the company. 

In a letter to the board included with the SEC filing, Musk wrote: “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.” 

He added, “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”   

Musk told someone at the company that this is his “best and final offer” and that he is “not playing the back-and-forth game. I have moved straight to the end,” according to Vice. If his offer is refused, Musk warned, he will “reconsider my position as shareholder.”

The SpaceX CEO, who calls himself a “free speech absolutist”, made his intentions clear weeks ago when he conducted a poll on Twitter asking whether Twitter “rigorously adheres” to free speech, to which over 70% said “no”. Musk then followed up with suggestions about introducing a new social media platform. 

The social media giant is infamous for its lack of free speech, regularly cracking down on users who do not follow its woke agenda. 

Twitter has suspended seven elected officials, all Republicans. They include Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL). Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and President Donald Trump were each suspended by Twitter five times, eventually being permanently banned from the platform.  

Following the Stop the Steal rally on January 6th, 2021, Twitter conducted a purge of its conservative users, ultimately deleting 70,000 accounts within days.  

Twitter is also a Liberal mainframe used to shape the Left’s agenda, often through harassment, bullying and threats. Many corporations and politicians have been forced to revise their policies to fit a more progressive narrative after being inundated with threatening tweets, and others have lost their jobs due to mass harassment on the platform. 

In one instance, a black, Jewish woman named April Powers was forced to resign from her post as equality director last year after she condemned antisemitism. Though she made no mention of Islam, Middle East or “Palestine”, there was intense backlash on Twitter because she did not mention “Islamophobia", prompting Powers’ boss to publish a statement condemning her condemnation. 

The incident even caught the attention of woke actress Debra Messing, who surprisingly defended Powers.  

Frontline News reported Tuesday that Twitter refused to take action against Leftists who made violent threats towards journalist Andy Ngo, whom Twitter had suspended for suggesting that “the US is one of the safest countries for trans people.” 

An Elon Musk takeover of Twitter would likely mean a complete overhaul of the platform and would disable the Left’s most effective tool, causing a significant change to the political power structure. 

It is likely for this reason that many on the Left, including Twitter employees, are getting nervous about a Musk takeover.

“I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter,” tweeted writer Max Boot. “He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.”