It's official: Twitter has sold itself to billionaire Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
The deal was finalized Monday, after days of speculation that it was about to fall through.
Musk bought the social media giant for $52.20 per share, which means the entire transaction is valued at around $44 billion.
In a press release published via PR Newswire, Twitter announced that it is about to become a private company.
"The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders," said Bret Taylor, Twitter's Independent Board Chair.
The CEO of Twitter Parag Agrawal added he was "deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important"
In a statement, Musk reiterated that he is committed to free speech, which he described as "the bedrock of a functioning democracy," and called Twitter a "digital town square."
"I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential -- I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."
The transaction was unanimously approved by Twitter's board of directors and will be closed soon, as there are no financing conditions.
Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own until the transaction is finalized -- this is a 38 percent premium prior to Musk disclosing his nine percent stake in the company.
The company also said it plans to release its first-quarter fiscal year 2022 results before the market opens on Thursday.
Musk's political leanings remain a mystery, but his defense of free speech principles has attracted criticism from Democratic politicians and liberal activists, who have long urged Twitter and other social media companies to crack down on what they claim is dangerous disinformation.
As reported by The New York Times, some believe Musk will change Twitter's content moderation policies, while others worry he might even reinstate former President Donald Trump's account.
Trump was banned from Twitter for inciting violence on January 6, when a group of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 elections.
