Friday deadline approaching for Musk to buy Twitter
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer media award in Berlin on Dec. 1, 2020. Musk suggested in a Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, tweet that his rocket company SpaceX may continue to fund its satellite-based Starlink internet service in Ukraine. But Musk’s tone and wording also raised the possibility that the irascible Tesla CEO was just being sarcastic. (Hannibal Hanschke/Pool Photo via AP, File)
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(NewsNation) — Elon Musk’s Twitter bio now reads “Chief twit.”
Right below that is a cheeky video of Musk strolling through the social media giant’s San Francisco headquarters for the first time as the company’s prospective boss.
“Let that sink in,” Musk wrote in a tweet accompanied by a video of him lugging a porcelain sink through the Twitter lobby.
It looks as if Musk has finally landed in his new home in the final days before the $44 billion deadline arrives this Friday.
Failure to close the deal before the deadline means a November trial, but Musk was seen in good spirits entering Twitter headquarters. All signs point to the finale of a business story that has captivated the nation for months.
“Meeting a lot of cool people,” Musk tweeted during Wednesday’s visit.
Others replied with their own pictures of Musk mingling with employees.
Musk also told Twitter advertisers he is buying the platform to “help humanity” and doesn’t want it to become a “free-for-all hellscape” where anything can be said with no consequences.
He tweeted the statement on Thursday, saying it was important to have a digital town square to avoid further splintering of “far right wing and far left wing echo chambers” on social media.
There has been concern among advertisers that Musk’s plans to promote free speech by cutting back on moderating content will open the floodgates to more online toxicity and drive away users.
Advertising accounted for nearly 90 percent of Twitter’s five billion dollars in revenue last year. Previously, Musk expressed disdain for ads, suggesting the possibility of using subscriptions as a revenue source.
Joshua Lowcock, global chief media officer of media and advertising agency UM Worldwide said Musk’s statement seems to have calmed nerves, noting no advertisers have pulled out of Twitter yet.
Musk insisted his intentions are altruistic.
“I didn’t do it to make money,” he said of the pending acquisition.
There has been no official word yet that the deal has been finalized.
Stock in Twitter has surged nearly 65% since it hit a four-month low in July. However, overnight the New York Stock Exchange announced that it has suspended trading on Twitter until the deal has been finalized.
“The deal hasn’t closed yet. So 5 o’clock tomorrow is still a long way away. If there’s any lesson we’ve learned from this whole episode it’s that Musk is unpredictable,” Lowcock said.