Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Thursday after tumultuous months of back and forth during which the billionaire questioned the actual numbers of users on the social media platform but finally gave in as a drawn-out litigation process neared.
The closing of the deal was reported by various media citing sources and investors. However, no official announcement or regulatory filing has yet to indicate that the agreement has been finalised.
The New York Stock Exchange told investors it would suspend trading in Twitter shares before Friday's opening bell in anticipation of the deal's completion.
Mr Musk, who is the world's richest man with 110 million Twitter followers, and the platform were given until October 28 by a US judge to finalise the deal, which has dragged on since April when the Tesla chief executive offered to buy the microblogging platform at $54.20.
He tried to walk away from the deal in May after accusing the social media company of understating the number of bot and fake accounts on the platform, which started a series of lawsuits between the two parties.
The social media company sued the billionaire, alleging that he had refused “to honour his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests”.
A court filing in May showed that 5 per cent of Twitter's 229 million users were bots. Mr Musk has vowed to “defeat the spam bots” upon closing the deal.
Mr Musk, who had a net worth of about $212bn as of October 28, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, retweeted a picture of him at the coffee bar inside the company's San Francisco headquarters, surrounded by its staff.
Amid the media reports about the closure of the deal, he tweeted that "the bird is freed".
Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal and finance chief Ned Segal left the company and will not be returning, CNBC reported, citing sources. Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal policy, trust and safety, was reportedly fired, the Washington Post reported.
Mr Musk plans to be chief executive at Twitter and intends to lift permanent bans on users because he doesn’t believe in lifelong prohibitions, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. That could pave the way for the return of former president Donald Trump to the social media platform.
In a separate message earlier in the day on Thursday, Mr Musk appeared to want to ease potential unease of advertisers and explained why he bought the company and his plans for it.
“There has been much speculation about why I bought Twitter and what I think about advertising. Most of it has been wrong,” he tweeted.
He said he bought Twitter because he believed it was “important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner without resorting to violence”.
“There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far-right-wing and far-left-wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society,” Mr Musk said.
“In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of traditional media has fuelled and catered to those polarised extremes as they believe that is what brings in the money but, in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost.”
He said he did not buy the company because “it would be easy” or to make more money.
“Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! Advertising, when done right, can delight, entertain and inform you; it can show you a service or a product or a medical treatment that you never knew existed, but is right for you,” he said.
“For this to be true, it is essential to show Twitter users advertising that is relevant as possible to their needs. Low relevancy ads are spam but highly relevant ads are actually content!”
Mr Musk concluded by saying the social media company plans to be the “most respected advertising platform in the world … to everyone who has partnered with us, I thank you. Let us build something extraordinary together”.
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Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Seven tips from Emirates NBD
1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details
4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies
7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately
Why the Tourist Club?
Originally, The Club (which many people chose to call the “British Club”) was the only place where one could use the beach with changing rooms and a shower, and get refreshments.
In the early 1970s, the Government of Abu Dhabi wanted to give more people a place to get together on the beach, with some facilities for children. The place chosen was where the annual boat race was held, which Sheikh Zayed always attended and which brought crowds of locals and expatriates to the stretch of beach to the left of Le Méridien and the Marina.
It started with a round two-storey building, erected in about two weeks by Orient Contracting for Sheikh Zayed to use at one these races. Soon many facilities were planned and built, and members were invited to join.
Why it was called “Nadi Al Siyahi” is beyond me. But it is likely that one wanted to convey the idea that this was open to all comers. Because there was no danger of encountering alcohol on the premises, unlike at The Club, it was a place in particular for the many Arab expatriate civil servants to join. Initially the fees were very low and membership was offered free to many people, too.
Eventually there was a skating rink, bowling and many other amusements.
Frauke Heard-Bey is a historian and has lived in Abu Dhabi since 1968.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SCE%20Studio%20Cambridge%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%2C%20PlayStation%204%20and%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Name: Oulo.com
Founder: Kamal Nazha
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2020
Number of employees: 5
Sector: Technology
Funding: $450,000
Step by step
2070km to run
38 days
273,600 calories consumed
28kg of fruit
40kg of vegetables
45 pairs of running shoes
1 yoga matt
1 oxygen chamber