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  • The Timeline Of Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Downfall

    The Timeline Of Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Downfall

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    Home of celebrities and neo-nazis, Twitter has it all. With nearly 400 million users globally — half of them active — the social networking and micro-blogging platform remains the central spot for 280-character musings.

    Known for its fandoms, spam bots, garbage discourse, and the tantalizing opportunity to respond directly to even the most famous of people, it’s now going to be known for Elon Musk’s desecration of it.

    The multi-billionaire — ex-husband of Grimes — and purchaser of the title of “founder of Tesla” boasts 100 million+ Twitter followers, 20k+ tweets, and the title of CEO as of 2022.

    Despite the goal of redefining Twitter as an innovation of grand proportions and as a “free speech” haven, Musk’s tyrannical management style may cause the platform to grind to a screeching halt any moment. Instead of a slow sinking ship, Musk crashed into the iceberg and then set off rocket launchers at the escaping boats.

    Here’s a timeline of Musk’s acquisition and subsequent murder of Twitter:

    Most recent news at the top — scroll down and read up for a full chronological timeline (this will be updated frequently)

    November 18, 2022: Twitter in trouble

    Teams responsible for Twitter’s basic functioning have been laid off or fled for the hills. Critics posit that the site could cease to exist any day now.

    Musk closes all office sites — even after stating that all employees were required to work in the office, or resign.

    November 16, 2022: Go hardcore or leave

    Musk issues an ultimatum for the remaining Twitter staff to be “hardcore” and “exceptional” employees or leave. Effectively creating a cult-like environment for employees willing to work with such a toxic boss, his ultimatum draws criticism.

    Hundreds of employees quit.

    November 11, 2022: Blue checkmarks for all!

    Ignoring Twitter’s Trust & Safety team, Musk rolls out the purchase of the blue verification checkmark.

    The checkmark, which is also used on Instagram and TikTok, was originally a verification system to distinguish legitimate account holders — such as celebrities, publications, and organizations — from posers or parodies. However, Musk’s latest policy changes make it a status symbol, and a free for all when it comes to posing as brands or established entities.

    November 4, 2022: Musk lays off half the company

    Employees are alerted by being locked out of their computers.

    November 3, 2022: Musk has beef with renowned horror writer, Stephen King

    Musk announces his plan to charge $20 for the blue checkmark of verification. King tells him he’ll leave the platform, and Musk backtracks to $8.

    ⭐️ October 27, 2022: Musk buys Twitter

    Musk becomes CEO for $44 billion and announces himself “Chief Twit.” He takes the company private, so it’s no longer listed with the New York Stock Exchange.

    Musk’s number one priority is to make Twitter a haven for “free speech.” This will not end well for him.

    October 3, 2022: Musk agrees to buy Twitter

    During the Twitter vs. Musk trial, he was unable to prove that Twitter mislead him by misrepresenting the platform.

    September 13, 2022: Twitter shareholders vote in favor of the Musk acquisition

    Musk privately offers to purchase Twitter at a reduced price of $31 billion, but they reject his lower offer.

    July 12, 2022: Twitter formally launches a lawsuit against Musk

    Twitter requests that the trial be moved from September 19 – September 22, right before the deal’s “drop dead” date on October 24.

    July 8, 2022: Musk threatens to terminate the contract

    Citing that he’d been misled by Twitter’s bot numbers and security features, Musk threatens to terminate the contract, ensuring legal action.

    May 13, 2022: The Deal’s on hold

    According to Musk, the deal’s put on hold due to the high amount (5%) of spambots on Twitter. This announcement causes Twitter’s stock to plunge by 10%.

    April 25, 2022: Twitter accepts

    Because Musk’s offer is much higher than what Twitter is deemed worth and he has the cash, Twitter accepts, with caveats. If Mr. Musk wants to back out or disparages the company while the deal is closing, there’s a $1 billion termination fee.

    ⭐️ April 13, 2022: Musk offers to buy Twitter

    He makes a $43 billion unsolicited bid to take Twitter private at $54.20 per share. The offer is 38% above the April 1 asking price. It was described as a “hostile takeover attempt.”

    “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.

    However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.

    As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before my investment was publicly announced. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.

    Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”

    It’s rumored that the “420” in $54.20 is a reference to the cannabis slang for smoking daily at 4:20pm.

    April 11, 2022: Musk rejects his spot on the Board

    Joining the Board would have meant protecting the interests of Twitter, and therefore not criticizing the brand. There also would be a cap on his shares.

    April 5, 2022: Musk is asked to join the Twitter Board

    Musk’s announcement causes a major spike in Twitter’s stock prices — and a dip in Tesla stock prices. But Twitter invites him to join the board, even amidst concerns. Musk accepts the invite and extends an invite to Jack Dorsey, who declines.

    April 4, 2022: Musk becomes Twitter’s largest shareholder

    By investing $2.64 billion into Twitter’s stock over the course of the last few months, Musk gains 9.2% of shares, making him the largest shareholder.

    January – March 2022: Musk shares his Twitter grievances

    Musk’s tweets gain attention for his multiple complaints about the social media platform’s bot problem as well as its crypto scammers. He also placed a poll for his followers on whether or not Twitter’s code should be open-source — meaning available for anyone to view and rework themselves.

    December 21, 2017: Musk shares his love for Twitter

    Then-CEO Jack Dorsey replied, “Same.” A user suggested the multi-millionaire should buy Twitter and Musk replied, “How much is it?” So technically, this dumpster fire has been 5 years in the making.

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    Allie Lembo

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  • Timeline of billionaire Elon Musk’s bid to control Twitter

    Timeline of billionaire Elon Musk’s bid to control Twitter

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    On Oct. 4, Elon Musk reversed himself and offered to honor his original proposal to buy Twitter for $44 billion — a deal he had spent the previous several months trying to wriggle out of. He made the latest offer just two weeks before a Twitter lawsuit aimed at forcing Musk to go through with the deal was scheduled to go to trial in Delaware Chancery Court. After receiving Musk’s offer, Twitter said it intends to close the transaction.

    The two parties now have to close the deal Friday. If they don’t, the Delaware Chancery Court judge overseeing the case plans to reschedule the trial in November.

    If the case has your head spinning, here’s a quick guide to the major events in the saga featuring the billionaire Tesla CEO and the social platform.

    January 31: Musk starts buying shares of Twitter in near-daily installments, amassing a 5% stake in the company by mid-March.

    March 26: Musk, who has tens of millions of Twitter followers and is active on the site, says he is giving “serious thought” to building an alternative to Twitter, questioning the platform’s commitment to “free speech” and whether Twitter is undermining democracy. He also privately reaches out to Twitter board members including his friend and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

    March 27: After privately informing Twitter of his growing stake in the company, Musk starts conversations with its CEO and board members about potentially joining the board. Musk also mentions taking Twitter private or starting a competitor, according to later regulatory filings.

    April 4: A regulatory filing reveals that Musk has rapidly become the largest shareholder of Twitter after acquiring a 9% stake, or 73.5 million shares, worth about $3 billion.

    April 5: Musk is offered a seat on Twitter’s board on the condition he amass no more than 14.9% of the company’s stock. CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet that “it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board.”

    April 9: After exchanging pleasantries and bonding by text message over their love of engineering, a short-lived relationship between Agrawal and Musk sours after Musk publicly tweets “Is Twitter dying?” and gets a message from Agrawal calling the criticism unhelpful. Musk tersely responds: “This is a waste of time. Will make an offer to take Twitter private.”

    April 11: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announces Musk will not be joining the board after all.

    April 14: Twitter reveals in a securities filing that Musk has offered to buy the company outright for about $44 billion.

    April 15: Twitter’s board unanimously adopts a “poison pill” defense in response to Musk’s proposed offer, attempting to thwart a hostile takeover.

    April 21: Musk lines up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter. Twitter board is under pressure to negotiate.

    April 25: Musk reaches a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion and take the company private. The outspoken billionaire has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.

    April 29: Musk sells roughly $8.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla to help fund the purchase of Twitter, according to regulatory filings.

    May 5: Musk strengthens his offer to buy Twitter with commitments of more than $7 billion from a diverse group of investors including Silicon Valley heavy hitters like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

    May 10: In a hint at how he would change Twitter, Musk says he’d reverse Twitter’s ban of former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, calling the ban a “morally bad decision” and “foolish in the extreme.”

    May 13: Musk declares his plan to buy Twitter “temporarily on hold.” Musk says he needs to pinpoint the number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform. Shares of Twitter tumble, while those of Tesla rebound sharply.

    June 6: Musk threatens to end his $44 billion agreement to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information he requested about its spam bot accounts.

    July 8: Musk says he will abandon his offer to buy Twitter after the company failed to provide enough information about the number of fake accounts.

    July 12: Twitter sues Musk to force him to complete the deal. Musk soon countersues.

    July 19: A Delaware judge says the Musk-Twitter legal dispute will go to trial in October.

    August 23: A former head of security at Twitter alleges the company misled regulators about its poor cybersecurity defenses and its negligence in attempting to root out fake accounts that spread misinformation. Musk eventually cites the whistleblower as a new reason to scuttle his Twitter deal.

    October 5: Musk offers to go through with his original proposal to buy Twitter for $44 billion. Twitter says it intends to close the transaction after receiving Musk’s offer.

    October 6: Delaware judge delays Oct. 17 trial until November and gives both sides until Oct. 28 to reach agreement to close the deal.

    October 20: The Washington Post reports that Musk told prospective Twitter investors that he plans to lay off 75% of the company’s 7,500 employees.

    Wednesday, October 26: Musk posts a video of himself entering Twitter headquarters carrying a kitchen sink, indicating that the deal is set to go through.

    Thursday, October 27: In a message to advertisers, Musk says Twitter won’t become a “free-for-all hellscape.”

    Thursday, October 27: Musk ousts CEO Parag Agrawal along with other top executives and takes control of Twitter, according two people familiar with the deal.

    Thursday, October 27: Musk tweets “the bird is freed”

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