Twitter, an American microblogging and social networking service, will fall into the hands of one of the richest men on Earth: Elon Musk. The Tesla Inc. CEO owns 18% of Tesla stocks and tops the list of richest people in 2022 with his $224 billion net worth. His wealth has dramatically swelled recently since Tesla share prices spiked sharply by about 32% in 2021. 

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal assuaged employee fears in the wake of Elon Musk launching a $46.5 billion takeover attempt of the social media company. According to two employees in attendance at an all-staff meeting on April 14, Agrawal said Twitter’s board considered Musk’s offer and hoped to act in the best interest of company shareholders, according to two employees in attendance. Musk revealed his interest in purchasing Twitter earlier in the day by tweeting a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission stating the acquisition depended on the “completion of anticipated financing.” Now, in a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the billionaire Tesla CEO says he’s lined up $46.5 billion to fund his offer of $54.20 a share. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and several other banks promised to lend him $25.5 billion, according to the filing.

Musk’s offer share stands at 38% more than the value of Twitter’s stock the day before he publicly announced his investment and 18.2% higher than Wednesday’s closing price. Still, people wonder how Musk would balance his time given that he has already obtained the title of the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and how he will finance his cash offer. Most of his $266 billion net worth lies within Tesla shares. Selling part of his stake could affect Tesla’s valuation.

“I support Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter based on his remarks to take Twitter back to its roots of a free and open platform for information, discussions, etc.; free from Twitter censorship and banning of users. However, based on the latest news that the Twitter Board of Directors is taking measures to block and reject Musk’s takeover it looks doubtful that Musk will succeed,” Marketing Principles teacher Richard Dennard said.

In the weeks before his stake became public, Musk publicly questioned Twitter’s commitment to free speech and mused about creating his own rival social network. At the TED conference last Thursday, Musk said his interest in Twitter didn’t involve anything about economics or making money.

Twitter announced Monday that the social media platform will sell itself to Elon Musk in a roughly $44 billion deal that will expand the billionaire’s business empire and put the world’s richest man in charge of one of the world’s most influential social networks. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk’s original offer and marking a 38% premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company.

“I want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spambots, and authenticating all humans… Even my worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means,” Musk said.