By Zoe Kleinman, Technology editor
Even Twitter itself didn’t appear to take Elon Musk seriously when he first said that he wanted to buy it. It’s just Musk being, well, Musk, everyone thought. He may be the world’s richest man but he is also by his own admission cash-poor – and he is well-versed in posting unsubstantiated grand ideas on social media.
But underestimate him at your peril. He is a multi-billionaire and Twitter is one of his favourite toys – so he’s come back with a funded $43bn offer that the firm’s shareholders are now looking likely to accept.
Twitter hasn’t explicitly explained why it didn’t initially want to become part of Mr Musk’s empire. Certainly any social media firm with regulators breathing down their necks is going to be wary of a new owner who wants to “open up” the platform to more freedom of speech and less moderation.
He’s also keen on subscription rather than advertising as a business model, which may prove a hard sell for a platform that has not experienced significant user growth in ages.
A Musk-owned Twitter would have a very different feel, for sure. But he also brings to it his own brand of magic -criticise him on social media and you’ll soon bear the brunt of devoted fans who idolise him.
Twitter may decide to try to find an alternative buyer but Musk’s star quality would be difficult to substitute.
He also recently tweeted: “If our Twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying”…..And authenticate all real humans.”
It is not clear who would run Twitter if Mr Musk’s bid succeeds. He is the chief executive as well as the “Technoking” of Tesla according to the company’s website.
He is also chief executive, chief technology officer and chairman of rocket and spacecraft firm SpaceX. Mr Musk is also involved in a number of other businesses and start-ups.
Twitter is led by chief executive Parag Agrawal, who took on the role last November with the backing of co-founder and former boss Jack Dorsey.
At the time, Mr Dorsey said: “My trust in Parag as Twitter’s chief executive is deep. I’m deeply grateful for his skill, heart, and soul. It’s his time to lead.”
Mr Musk has been critical of Twitter’s management. In his offer document, he told Twitter’s chairman Bret Taylor: “I don’t have confidence in management.”
Mr Agrawal has not discussed the takeover on the platform since earlier this month, when he announced that Mr Musk had turned down an offer to sit on the company’s board, a decision he said would be “for the best”.
