What’s Elon Up To This Time?

Key Takeaways

• After a long and cryptic process, Elon Musk finally bought Twitter.
• When he arrived at Twitter HQ, he was carrying a sink to announce his victory.
• With this change in leadership, big changes are on the horizon for this social media platform.

You’ve probably heard a rumor floating around the internet that Elon Musk walked into Twitter with an actual kitchen sink in his hands. Although it might seem a little bit far-fetched, that scene unfolded at Twitter’s headquarters earlier this week.

So, why was Elon Musk carrying a sink? We’ll explain that and explore the impacts for investors below.

The Twitter takeover saga

Elon Musk, eccentric billionaire and Tesla CEO, announced his plans to purchase Twitter earlier this year. This came after he purchased 9.2% of the company’s stock to become its largest shareholder. Although the company originally invited him to be a part of the board of directors, that possibility never came to fruition.

A few weeks after Twitter announced that Musk wouldn’t be joining the board of directors after all, Musk offered to purchase the entire company for $54.20 per share. Twitter wasn’t receptive to the offer and adopted a “poison pill” provision to prevent the acquisition from moving forward.

In late April, Twitter accepted Musk’s offer to purchase the company with a $44 billion valuation. But if you followed the deal’s proceedings, you’ll note that the transition was anything but smooth. Musk and Twitter’s executives went back and forth about the details of the platform and the deal for months.

Let that sink in: What’s Elon up to this time?

After a messy couple of months, the deal between Elon Musk and Twitter finally closed last week. And as his first order of business, Elon Musk walked into the company with a physical sink.

On Twitter, he posted a video of this stunt with the caption: “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” And just like that, Musk’s authority over the popular social media platform begins.

Immediate Staff Changes

As his first order of business, the new boss fired several top-level employees including the former CEO Parag Agrawal, the former Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and the former legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde.

Allegedly, Segal and Agarwal were both escorted out of the company’s headquarters when the Musk deal was finalized.

Major changes to the Twitter experience

When Musk took the reins, he tweeted, “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”

With that, Musk tweeted on October 28, “To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies.”

Since then, users have started to notice some changes to the platform. For example, a downvote feature was added that allows users to push down on a comment that’s not contributing to the platform in a positive way.

But more meaningful changes are coming down, based on Musk’s stated reasons for purchasing the platform in the first place.

On October 28, Musk tweeted a message to advertisers on the platform, stating, “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.” The tweet continued, “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.” As the song says, it’s about damn time.

In the coming weeks and months, Twitter will likely see some big changes to its content moderation systems. Some of the platform users are excited about the changes, while others are wary about what this change might mean for their user experience.

Possible layoffs on the horizon

Although Musk kicked off his arrival by firing the company’s top brass, that might not be the end of the personnel changes. As Musk settles into his new role, many Twitter employees are concerned that a massive wave of layoffs is imminent.

Twitter wouldn’t be the only company to see a rash of layoffs this year. Other major tech companies, like Meta and Intel, have also made significant layoffs as increasing economic pressures push earnings downward.

Implications for Twitter investors

When the deal closed, Musk took the company private. In other words, you can no longer purchase shares of Twitter on the stock market.

But if you held Twitter stock on the day the Elon Musk deal closed, here’s what will happen to your investment. Since Musk bought the company for $54.20 per share, and the price was approved by the majority of shareholders, you’ll receive a payout in the immediate future of $54.20 for every share you owned.

The long drain ahead

Twitter is one of the many major social media platforms that has had a big impact on our lives over the last decade and a half. As social media has gained popularity, these platforms have become a part of our personal lives in many ways. But for investors, the increased use of social media translated into significant growth in the stock price for these companies.

Since Musk took Twitter private, you’ll no longer have the chance to invest in this platform. But there are other social media platforms owned by publicly traded tech companies. With each shift in the market and news cycle, the share price of tech giants’ stock changes. In recent weeks, all of the news has seemed to push tech company stock prices down.

As an investor, keeping up with this unending stream of information is critical. However, not everyone has the time or inclination to constantly monitor the markets. If you want to make tech a part of your portfolio without following the drama, consider turning to artificial intelligence to handle this chore for you.

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