Elon Musk takes over Twitter: A look back on timeline of $44 billion deal
Since Musk began buying shares of Twitter in January this year, there have been controversies galore - from Musk dropping out of the deal to the legal battle with Twitter.
Billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday finally took control of Twitter after the biggest deal this year kept the tech world in wait-and-watch mode for months. In his first move as the boss of one of the world's most popular social networking sites, Musk is reported to have terminated Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde. Since Musk began buying shares of Twitter in January this year, there have been controversies galore - from Musk dropping out of the deal to the legal battle with Twitter.
Here is a timeline of the events:
January 31: Elon Musk began buying shares of Twitter in near-daily installments - amassing a 5% stake in the company by mid-March.
March 26: Musk had said that he is giving a “serious thought” to building an alternative to Twitter - questioning the platform's commitment to “free speech” and whether Twitter is undermining democracy. He had also privately reached out to the Twitter board, including co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Also read: Parag Agrawal likely to receive $42 million following exit from Twitter: Report
March 27: Elon Musk began conversations with Twitter CEO and board members about potentially joining the board. He had also mentioned taking Twitter private or starting a competitor, according to later regulatory filings. After privately informing Twitter of his growing stake in the company, Musk starts conversations with its CEO and board members about potentially joining the board. Musk also mentions taking Twitter private or starting a competitor, reported AP.
April 4: A regulatory filing revealed that Musk has rapidly become the largest shareholder of Twitter after acquiring a 9 percent stake (73.5 million shares) - worth about $3 billion.
April 5: Musk was offered a seat on Twitter’s board on the condition he amasses no more than 14.9 percent of the company’s stock.
April 9: The relationship between Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal and Elon Musk went sour after Musk publicly tweeted: “Is Twitter dying?” To this, Agrawal called the criticism unhelpful.
April 11: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced Musk will not be joining the board after all.
April 14: Twitter revealed in a securities filing that Musk has offered to buy the company for about $44 billion.
April 21: Musk lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter.
April 25: Elon Musk reached a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion and take the company private. The billionaire said that he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks “it is not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.”
April 29: Musk sold around $8.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla to help fund the purchase of Twitter.
May 5: Musk strengthened his offer to buy Twitter with commitments of more than $7 billion from a diverse group of investors.
May 10: Elon Musk said that he would reverse the ban on former US president Donald Trump's Twitter account following the US Capitol violence.
May 13: Musk declared his plan to buy Twitter is “temporarily on hold.”
June 6: Elon Musk accused Twitter of refusing to give him the information he requested about its spam bot accounts and threatened to end his $44 billion agreement.
July 12: Twitter sued Musk and asked him to complete the deal. Musk countersued.
Also read: You're free to tweet: Messages reveal Elon Musk- Parag Agrawal fall out
July 19: A Delaware judge said the Musk-Twitter legal dispute will go to trial in October.
August 23: Former head of security at Twitter alleged that the company “misled regulators about its poor cybersecurity defenses” and its negligence in attempting to root out fake accounts that spread misinformation. Musk cited the whistleblower as a new reason to scuttle his Twitter deal.
October 5: Musk offered to go through with his original proposal to buy Twitter for $44 billion.
October 6: Delaware judge delayed October 17 trial until November and gave both sides until October 28 to reach an agreement to close the deal.
October 20: Reports said that Musk planned to lay off 75 percent of the company's employees.
October 26: Musk posted a video of himself entering Twitter headquarters carrying a kitchen sink, indicating that the deal is set to go through. He also updated his Twitter profile's bio to "Chief Twit".
October 27: Musk took control of Twitter and reportedly fired the company's CEO, chief financial officer, and general counsel.
(With inputs from AP)
