Elon Musk has officially purchased Twitter, the company announced Monday afternoon.
"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk proclaimed in a statement released by Twitter. "I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."
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The deal is expected to close by the end of 2022 (pending approval of Twitter stockholders and other regulatory measures) and was unanimously approved by Twitter's board of directors.
Musk purchased the company for $54.20 per share in cash, valued at an estimated $44 billion total. Twitter, under Musk, will now become a privately held company once the deal reaches completion.
Stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each of their shares upon closing.
Rumors swirled early Monday morning that Musk had met with the board on Sunday evening as well as with independent shareholders on Friday in person, though neither were publicly confirmed.
"Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world," said Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. "Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."
Twitter stock surged over 5% Monday during premarket trading upon reports that the social media behometh was in talks to close a deal with Musk after an SEC filing was released that showed Musk was considering a tender offer to purchase Twitter shares directly from shareholders.
The billionaire previously said in a letter to Twitter Board chairman Brett Taylor via a different SEC filing that his offer to purchase the company for $54.20 per share was his "best and final."
Musk, who was elected to the Board and was supposed to officially take his seat on April 9, rejected the offer just days before he was set to begin.
"There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged. The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no one else's," Agrawal said in a letter to employees at the time. "Let's tune out the noise, and stay focused on the work and what we're building."
Twitter is expected to report on its Q1 2022 earnings this Thursday.
This is a developing story.
Related: Report: Twitter, Musk Deal Could Be Reached Early This Week
