The deal was finally closed on October 28, 2022, with Musk becoming Twitter’s new owner and CEO.
Billionaire Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a video of himself walking into the social media platform’s headquarters, marking the second anniversary of his $44 billion acquisition. Musk captioned the video, “Let that sink in!” The throwback post comes after a tumultuous takeover in 2022, during which Musk ousted top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal and legal head Vijaya Gadde, as he asserted control over the company.
After the takeover, Musk also changed his Twitter profile to refer to himself as “Chief Twit” and his location as Twitter headquarters.
Watch the video here:
Let that sink in! https://t.co/It4dPAKSk7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 27, 2024
The acquisition began in January 2022, when Musk started buying Twitter shares, becoming the company’s largest shareholder by April with a 9.1% ownership stake. He then made an unsolicited offer to purchase Twitter for $44 billion in April, which the board unanimously accepted on April 25, 2022. However, Musk later announced his intention to terminate the agreement in July, citing concerns over spambot accounts, only to reverse course in October and move forward with the acquisition.
The deal was finally closed on October 28, 2022, with Musk becoming Twitter’s new owner and CEO. Since taking over, Musk has proposed various reforms, including introducing new features, making algorithms open-source, and promoting free speech. However, his ownership has also been marked by controversy, including suspending high-profile accounts and laying off half of the company’s workforce.
More than six months after he acquired Twitter, he merged the company into an entity called X Corp, saying Twitter is an accelerant to building an everything app called X. Reactions to the acquisition were mixed, with some praising Musk’s vision and others expressing concerns over the potential rise of misinformation and hate speech.
A month after owning Twitter, he also reinstated handles that were banned in the wake of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol Hill in the US. Among them was former US President Donald Trump.
