Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion
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The reading
The world's richest person, Elon Musk, has bought the social media site Twitter. Mr Musk bought the company for $44 billion. On April the 4th, he bought 9.1 per cent of Twitter for $2.64 billion. Twitter's value rose by 27 per cent after this. Musk then made a follow-up offer to buy the whole company, but the board of directors rejected this. However, on April the 25th, the board publicly accepted Mr Musk's offer. Musk is number seven on the list of Twitter's most-followed people. He has 84 million followers. Former U.S. President Barack Obama tops the list with 131 million followers. Twitter's co-founder Jack Dorsey said he was happy that Mr Musk is Twitter's new owner. He said: "I trust his mission."
Mr Musk said he wants to open up Twitter more to free speech. One of his biggest aims is to remove spam bots, which fill Twitter with fake tweets. Many spam bots are used to tweet false information to people voting in elections. They are also used to spread conspiracy theories about vaccinations, immigration and other social issues. Mr Musk said he wants to introduce new products. He said the company has "tremendous potential". One big question people are asking is whether Musk will allow former U.S. President Donald Trump back on the platform. He was banned in January 2021. Other concerns people have are about hate speech. Human rights groups say a more open Twitter could lead to a rise in hate speech.
Sources:
- https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61225355
- https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/04/twitter-has-new-owner-heres-what-he-should-do
- https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/26/jack-dorsey-elon-musk-is-the-singular-solution-for-twitter.html
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