25 Reactions To Elon Musk Offering To Buy Twitter For $43 Billion

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April 15, 2022, 11:30 am

Billionaire and South African apartheid emerald mine heir Elon Musk has launched a mission to take over all of Twitter with his money, officially offering over $43 billion “in cash” for full control of the social media platform after becoming a majority shareholder. Just days ago, it was announced that he purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the company yet declined an offer to join its board of directors, apparently now preferring to just take the platform entirely.

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This move has been described as an attempt at a “hostile takeover,” prompting Twitter to adopt a “poison pill” defense that would stop or delay any one person from taking total control of the company without paying shareholders a premium. However, this may not be enough to keep the platform from falling into Musk’s hands and turning it into a private company that he could twist into whatever he wanted.

“I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the securities filing submitted on Thursday. “I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.”

While Musk has many fans, he also has many of the opposite of fans, resulting in an outcry on Twitter against this possible attempt at a hostile takeover of a platform so many people use to connect to each other and current events in real time. Many fear that he would remove protections against abusive and dangerous users such as white supremacists and other bigots, turning the website into a toxic space not safe for any member of a marginalized and oppressed group.

There are also many jokes to be had about the weird and often terrible billionaire Twitter user, many suggesting that Musk is attempting to buy the platform for reasons ranging from petty to “must distract people from the news that my factories are racist nightmares.”

1.

it was funny when elon musk fanboys were like “he doesn’t ACTUALLY have hundred of billions in cash they’re in assets.” meanwhile he wants to drop $43 billion on an app so he can ban people who are mean to him

— Mohammad (@MargBarAmerica) April 14, 2022

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2.

i was on tumblr when yahoo had to sell it for $3 million after buying it for $1.1 billion. we were all a little bit responsible for losing yahoo a billion dollars. and with that type of collective effort, i believe we here on twitter can lose elon musk even more

— lesbian mothman (@verysmallriver) April 14, 2022

3.

Men will literally offer to buy Twitter instead of taking care of their son named R2D2.

— Dary.JaMorantStan (@DaryRezvani) April 14, 2022

4.

Never trust anyone eager to pay $43 billion to avoid a background check.

— Lindsey Simmons (@LynzforCongress) April 14, 2022

5.

If I were Elon Musk I would probably make an offer to buy Twitter that distracted from the numerous lawsuits and investigations into my companies and activities too

— Edward Ongweso Jr (@bigblackjacobin) April 14, 2022

6.

Elon’s proposed takeover of Twitter is a profound threat to unfree speech.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) April 14, 2022

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Elon Musk making a play for Twitter out of his petty cash drawer is one more example of why the pooling of so much wealth in the hands of a few is a societal disease.

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) April 14, 2022

9.

Elon Musk is why to abolish billionaires.

Asking them to chip in their fair share isn’t enough. Regulating them isn’t enough.

When people are allowed to acquire this much concentrated influence, they will inevitably manspread economic power into every other form of power.

— Anand Giridharadas @ The.Ink (@AnandWrites) April 14, 2022

10.

Can’t believe Elon Musk is gonna spend $41B to make Twitter private, it’s right there in the settings and anyone can do it for free

— Emily G (@EmilyGorcenski) April 15, 2022

11.

“elon musk said he would fix twitter.”ok but he also said he made an unsmashable window and then smashed it immediately

— soul nate (@MNateShyamalan) April 15, 2022

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13.

Musk is throwing this tantrum bc Twitter told him he needed to undergo a background check and act in the interest of stockholders.

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 14, 2022

14.

When I criticized Musk for worker violations at Tesla, he blocked me.

When a college student started a Twitter account to track Musk’s private plane, Musk tried to buy him off, before blocking him.

Does that sound like a “free speech absolutist” to you? https://t.co/5BU3sGv7oq

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) April 12, 2022

15.

Some people say Elon Musk is a genius but he’s trying to buy Twitter for 40 billion while I got the app for free, who has the bigger brain really

— (@StellaNoxEclair) April 14, 2022

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17.

Isn’t it crazy? @elonmusk could easily end starvation for all people on this planet, end homelessness for everyone and he’s concentrating on buying twitter…
Priorities, right?

— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) April 14, 2022

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19.

Twitter is too important to be owned and controlled by a single person. The opposite should be happening. Twitter should be decentralized as a protocol that powers an ecosystem of communication products and services.

— Fred Wilson (@fredwilson) April 14, 2022

20.

Elon Musk forcing people to admit Twitter isn’t nearly as bad as it could be.

— Rod (@rodimusprime) April 14, 2022

21.

Elon Musk has almost 300 billion net worth. He could give every American $1 billion dollars but instead he wants to buy Twitter.

— Chef Andrew Gruel (@ChefGruel) April 15, 2022

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22.

Elon Musk launching a hostile takeover bid for Twitter is giving Lex Luthor buying the Daily Planet vibes.

— Ahmed Ali (@MrAhmednurAli) April 14, 2022

23.

Tom from Myspace never would have pulled this sh*t.

— NoelCaslerComedy (@caslernoel) April 14, 2022

24.

“The establishment hates him so that must mean he’s a threat to the system” didn’t pan out with Trump and it won’t with Musk either. They’re playing you and you fall for it hook, line and sinker every. single. time.

— Just.A.Thought (@e_galv) April 15, 2022

25.

If Twitter wants to prevent Elon Musk from taking over their company they don’t need a “poison pill” to do it they just need to unionize their workforce

— The Serfs (@theserfstv) April 15, 2022

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*First Published: April 15, 2022, 11:30 am