Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover

Elon Musk’s $44bn agreed takeover offer for Twitter has sent ripples through markets, the tech industry and society.

Hear from Financial Times journalists and experts give an up-to-the-minute virtual briefing on the likely consequences of the world’s richest man acquiring the social media platform he describes as the “bedrock of a functioning democracy”.

Our panel took FT readers’ questions and discussed the deal, its impact on Twitter and on Musk’s other businesses, as well as the likely response of regulators. While the EU has warned Musk he will have to police harmful and illegal content under its new regulatory system, rightwing US politicians expect the lifting of a life-long ban imposed on former US president Donald Trump for his role inciting the riots of 6 January 2021. 

Motivated by what the Tesla founder says is a concern for free speech rather than profit, the deal taking Twitter private would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts on record. Musk is funding his $44bn purchase with $13bn of debt from Wall Street’s largest lenders led by Morgan Stanley, as well as a $12.5bn margin loan secured against his stake in the electric carmaker Tesla. He has yet to explain how he will finance the deal’s $21bn cash component. 

After shares in Tesla initially slid in response and regulatory filings showed that either side can walk away for a $1bn fee, Musk’s mission to make Twitter “better than ever” could yet unravel. 

• What convinced the Twitter board to go from issuing a poison pill to accepting the offer in a matter of days?
  
  
• How will Musk finance the $21bn cash component of the deal?  How will the acquisition affect his other businesses, Tesla and Space X?
  
  
• How will regulators and customers react to the self-described “free speech absolutist” seizing control of the influential social media platform? Should harmful and illegal content be policed, and if so how?
  
  
• How would Musk change Twitter and its business model after taking the company private and decoupling it from the demands of Wall Street?

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