The takeover of Twitter through Elon Musk is not yet final, but the tech billionaire is already getting involved in the online network’s business. In an open letter to Twitter’s advertisers, he explained TeslaCEO on Thursday reiterated his motives for the $44 billion deal, addressing concerns that the platform could become a hotbed of hate speech.
The richest person in the world tweeted that he was buying Twitter to help humanity. Twitter shouldn’t become a “place of horror” where anything can be said without consequences. The platform must be “warm and inviting for everyone”. “It is important for the future of civilization to have a common digital hub where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy way without resorting to violence,” Musk continued. There is a “great danger” of fragmentation of the online platforms into an extreme right and an extreme left camp. That would lead to “more hatred and division”.
Musk had previously justified the purchase with the desire to strengthen freedom of speech. Critics are concerned that the change in ownership will result in less moderated content on the network, fueling hatred and hate speech. That could deter advertisers.
The deal has not yet been officially completed and confirmed by Twitter. But the fact that Musk is already interfering in management and speaking in the past tense of having bought Twitter points to an imminent execution. The transaction must be completed by Friday at 5:00 p.m. local time (11:00 p.m. CEST), otherwise the deal, which has been contentious for months, will end up in court after all. This deadline was imposed by a judge to regulate the takeover that has been disputed between Musk and Twitter for months. The website of the New York Stock Exchange has already announced that Twitter shares will be suspended from trading on Friday.
Musk had actually agreed on the takeover with Twitter in April. In July, however, he voided the agreement over alleged misrepresentations by the company about fake accounts. Twitter sued for compliance with the purchase agreement and a court case was scheduled to resolve the dispute. In early October, Musk surprisingly renewed his purchase offer, but made it a condition that the court case be settled.
Musk visits Twitter headquarters with a sink in his hands
Musk had already visited the headquarters of the short message service Twitter in San Francisco on Wednesday (local time). “Enter Twitter headquarters – let this sink in!” read the caption of a video Musk tweeted. The billionaire joked with the video that he was carrying a sink when he entered the building, alluding to the fact that he literally took the title of his Twitter post: Let that sink in clean the sink. A little later he tweeted that he had met many “cool people” during his visit.
Apparently, after all the back and forth regarding the purchase of the social media platform, Musk wanted to provide amusement with the action. Recently, media reports about a possible job cuts among the employees had probably caused long faces.
The Wall Street Journal had also previously reported that the takeover would be completed this Friday. Banks have already started transferring $13 billion in cash to support Musk’s acquisition, the report said, citing an insider. Once the final closing conditions are met, Musk would be provided with the funds to complete the transaction by Friday, the paper said.