Takeover Timeline: How Elon Musk won Twitter in just 31 days

The announcement by Twitter's Board of Directors unanimously approving Elon Musk's offer capped weeks of speculations over the fate of the platform ever since the billionaire revealed that he had picked up a 9.2 per cent stake.

Image: In this photo illustration, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's twitter profile is displayed on a mobile phone screen. Photograph: Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Twitter has tremendous potential and I look forward to working with the company to unlock it, said Elon Musk as announced to the world that he is buying the social media platform for $44 billion (Rs 33.6 lakh crore).

The announcement of the deal, which was unanimously approved by Twitter's Board of Directors, capped weeks of speculations over the fate of the platform ever since the billionaire revealed that he had picked up a 9.2 per cent stake.

Let's look at the timeline:

March 27, 2022

Asked by an Indian user, who identified himself as Pranay Pathole, whether he would consider building a new social media platform based on an open-source algorithm and one where free speech is given top priority, Musk replies: "Am giving serious thought to this"

April 4, 2022

The billionaire announces that he has picked up a 9.2 per cent stake in the company -- that's 73,486,938 shares -- for around $2.4 billion.

April 5, 2022

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal informs that Elon is being appointed to the Board. Stating that the Tesla founder and CEO was both a passionate believer and intense critic of the platform, Parag noted that Elon would bring great value to the Board. That is exactly what we need on Twitter, and in the boardroom, he said.

Image: In this photo illustration Elon Musk's Twitter account is seen displayed on a smartphone screen with the Twitter logo in the background. Photo illustration: Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images

April 10, 2022

There is a massive reversal in Twitter's stand. CEO Parag Agrawal informs that the largest shareholder in Twitter will not be joining the social media firm's board. While stating that Twitter will remain open to Elon's inputs, Parag said regardless of whether the company's shareholders are on the board or not, the company will always value their inputs.

April 14, 2022

Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $43 billion. He shared the offer filed before the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in which he offers $54.20 per share to buy 100% of the company in an all-cash offer. The same day, he appeared in a TED talk in Vancouver where he asserts that having a public platform that is 'maximally trusted' and 'broadly inclusive' is extremely essential.

Elon Musk's Tweet displayed on a screen and Twitter logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo. Photo illustration: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

April 15, 2022

Twitter's Board of Directors invokes the 'poison pill' -- Limited Duration Shareholder Rights Plan -- aimed at stopping Elon from buying the platform. The Rights Plan was targeted at reducing the likelihood that Elon gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium or without providing the Board enough time to take actions that are in shareholders' best interests. Shareholders were invited to increase their investments in the company to reduce the billionaire's ability to build his stake up into a controlling one. The hostile takeover was delayed, but Musk's offer never left the table.

Image: Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands on a stage at the Tesla Gigafactory for the open day. Photograph: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa via Getty Images

April 21, 2022

Elon reveals how he intends to gather $43 billion for purchasing Twitter. He announced that $21 billion would be paid from his own $263 billion fortune while $12.5 billion would be borrowed against his equity holdings. The billionaire also secured $13 billion through a debt commitment letter from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. and certain other financial institutions.

April 25, 2022

Twitter announces that its Board of Directors has approved Elon's offer to buy the company at $54.20 per share. Elon shares a message on Twitter, stating that he wants to make it better than ever. How? As Pranay Pathole suggested, through an open-source algorithm and increasing trust.