World’s richest man Elon Musk to buy Twitter in a $44 billion deal reuters.com

Elon Musk clinched a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion cash on Monday in a transaction that will shift control of the social media platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the world’s richest man.

It is a seminal moment for the 16-year-old company, which emerged as one of the world’s most influential public squares and now faces a string of challenges.

Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, has criticized Twitter’s moderation. He wants Twitter’s algorithm for prioritizing tweets to be public and objects to giving too much power on the service to corporations that advertise.

Political activists expect that a Musk regime will mean less moderation and reinstatement of banned individuals including former President Donald Trump.

“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” Musk tweeted, The tweet has received more than 1.4 million likes.

Read the full story