Twitter shares taken off stock exchange after Elon Musk seals $44bn takeover – business live | Business
SEC filing: Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, shares delisted
The SEC filing confirms that Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, and its shares have been taken off the New York stock exchange, reports our global technology editor Dan Milmo.
The merger between Twitter, Inc. and X Holdings II, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of X Holdings I, Inc., wholly owned by Elon R. Musk became effective on October 27, 2022.
Each share of Twitter, Inc. Common Stock was exchanged for USD 54.20 in cash, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes.
The Exchange also notifies the Securities and Exchange Commission that as a result of the above indicated conditions this security was suspended from trading before market open on October 28, 2022.
Key events
Filters BETA
With the Elon Musk twitter takeover now official, reactions have started pouring in on the app–ranging from the curious to the concerned.
From American singer-songwriter Erykah Badu:
From Houston Chronicle reporter Dwight Silverman:
Here’s also a live shot from outside the Twitter HQ as the takeover was confirmed, provided by NowThis:
WATCH: Live shot outside of Twitter headquarters after Elon Musk has taken full control and ownership of the social media company. According to reports, Musk fired several executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal. https://t.co/gcXSUhbUT2
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 28, 2022
Summary
A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission confirms that Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, and its shares have been taken off the New York stock exchange.
Former US president Donald Trump said he was happy Twitter was in “sane hands”.
Senior politicians have warned Elon Musk over content moderation on Twitter, with the EU stressing the platform will “fly by our rules” and a UK minister expressing concerns over hate speech under the billionaire’s ownership.
Our other main stories today:
The US oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron have announced huge profits, dwarfing Shell’s $9.5bn. Texas-based ExxonMobil’s profits tripled to close to $20bn in the third quarter, nearly matching Apple’s profits, while Chevron was $11.2bn in the black. President Joe Biden blasted Exxon for making “more money than God” in the summer.
Profits at the world’s biggest oil companies have soared to nearly £150bn so far this year as Russia’s war on Ukraine pushed up energy prices, according to estimates from analysts.
The German economy surprised with growth of 0.3% in the July to September quarter, defying fears of a recession. It eked out 0.1% growth in the previous quarter. However, annual inflation in Europe’s biggest economy jumped to 11.6% last month, with food prices up 20%.
Pre-tax profits at NatWest Group remained flat between July and September at £1.1bn, amid a worsening economic outlook and a cost of living squeeze on its customers, as the bank predicted UK house prices would fall by 7% next year.
Airline revenues at British Airways’ owner have returned to pre-Covid levels, the group has announced, as it increased its profit forecasts despite a summer of disruption.
Rail users have plenty of horror stories about their experiences and the train operator Avanti is on a deadline to fix its problems.
The UK’s biggest gas storage site has been brought back in time for what could be one of the tightest winters for years for energy suppliers trying to meet demand.
I am now handing over to our US team. Thank you for reading. – JK
SEC filing: Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, shares delisted
The SEC filing confirms that Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, and its shares have been taken off the New York stock exchange, reports our global technology editor Dan Milmo.
The merger between Twitter, Inc. and X Holdings II, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of X Holdings I, Inc., wholly owned by Elon R. Musk became effective on October 27, 2022.
Each share of Twitter, Inc. Common Stock was exchanged for USD 54.20 in cash, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes.
The Exchange also notifies the Securities and Exchange Commission that as a result of the above indicated conditions this security was suspended from trading before market open on October 28, 2022.
Trump says he is happy to see Twitter ‘in sane hands’
Former US president Donald Trump said today he was happy Twitter was in “sane hands” as Elon Musk finalised the $44bn takeover, but did not say whether he would return to his account on the platform that banned him.
Trump said he thought his own Truth Social media platform “looks and works better.”
“I LOVE TRUTH,” Trump wrote in a post on his platform. Trump was banned from Twitter after the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Musk has said he would reinstate Trump’s account, but Trump previously said he would not return.
Dan Milmo
Here’s our full story on reactions from senior politicians to the Twitter takeover.
Senior politicians have warned Elon Musk over content moderation on Twitter, with the EU stressing the platform will “fly by our rules” and a UK minister expressing concerns over hate speech under the billionaire’s ownership.
The EU’s internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, wrote on the platform on Friday that “in Europe, the bird will fly by our rules”, in response to Musk’s earlier tweet saying “the bird is freed” in apparent confirmation that he had bought the business. The EU is introducing the digital services act, which includes provisions for removal of illegal content including hate speech.
The UK government flagged its own concerns on Friday, as the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey said it would be “concerning” if a relaxation of content moderation led to a proliferation on hate speech on the platform.
“I think that would be concerning and it’s important that people have these platforms [and] use them responsibly rather than to promulgate hate speech,” she told Sky News. Coffey added that the online safety bill, a landmark piece of legislation tackling online hate speech, will return to parliament next week. However, it is understood that the bill will remain on pause after the government delayed its passage again this week.
One internet safety campaigner said on Friday that the deal could “unravel” Twitter’s work on improving the platform, after reports that Musk has already fired the company’s head of legal policy, trust and safety, Vijaya Gadde.
As the deal is finalised, Musk tweeted in the last hour:
Twitter files for delisting of shares
Twitter has filed for a delisting of its shares, as the $44bn takeover by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is finalised.
Documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday show an application for the shares to be withdrawn from the New York stock exchange, as its new owner takes the company private.
Researcher Joan Donovan recently looked at why the super-rich are buying social media sites? From Trump to Kanye and Musk.
Tech CEOs have become the most crucial political gatekeepers in modern media history. Not by running for office – a cliche for today’s moneyed elite – but by using social media ownership as a proxy for political influence.
It’s a trend years in the making. From the political largess of former Facebook executives like Sheryl Sandberg and Joel Kaplan to the metapolitics of Peter Thiel, tech titans have long adopted an inside/outside playbook for conducting politics by other means.
Rapper Kanye West is among those banned from Twitter (in his case for posting a series of antisemitic tweets), who could return to the platform under Elon Musk.
If the entrepreneur chooses to reinstate their Twitter accounts, Donald Trump could make a comeback, along with US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the right-wing commentator Katie Hopkins and the former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
The Daily Telegraph has compiled a list of people who could make a comeback.
Lunchtime summary
While we are waiting for more news on the Twitter deal, here’s a summary of today’s other news.
European stock markets have drifted lower, while the pound has slipped 0.1% but is still above $1.15.
The US oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron have announced huge profits, dwarfing Shell’s $9.5bn. Texas-based ExxonMobil’s profits tripled to close to $20bn in the third quarter, nearly matching Apple’s profits, while Chevron was $11.2bn in the black. President Joe Biden blasted Exxon for making “more money than God” in the summer.
Profits at the world’s biggest oil companies have soared to nearly £150bn so far this year as Russia’s war on Ukraine pushed up energy prices, according to estimates from analysts.
The German economy surprised with growth of 0.3% in the July to September quarter, defying fears of a recession. It eked out 0.1% growth in the previous quarter.
Pre-tax profits at NatWest Group remained flat between July and September at £1.1bn, amid a worsening economic outlook and a cost of living squeeze on its customers, as the bank predicted UK house prices would fall by 7% next year.
The UK’s biggest gas storage site has been brought back in time for what could be one of the tightest winters for years for energy suppliers trying to meet demand.
Kanye West says he lost $2bn in a single day this week after losing several major partnerships over his antisemitic comments.
The $44bn Twitter deal is expected to be announced when Wall Street opens at 2.30pm.
Elon Musk explained why he is buying the social media company here:
Musk expected to address Twitter staff today
Elon Musk is expected to speak to Twitter staff later today, as he seals the $44bn takeover of the social media platform.
Leslie Berland, Twitter’s chief marketing officer, sent a memo to employees on Wednesday saying he would visit the company’s headquarters this week, Bloomberg reported.
“Elon is in the SF office this week meeting with folks, walking the halls, and continuing to dive in on the important work you all do,” Berland wrote in the memo. “For everyone else, this is just the beginning of many meetings and conversations with Elon, and you’ll all hear directly from him on Friday.”
Musk has threatened to slash 75% of the workforce which totals about 7,500, and earlier this week Twitter employees sent an open letter to him and the board, according to Time magazine.
“We demand transparent, prompt and thoughtful communication around our working conditions,” the letter read. “We demand to be treated with dignity, and to not be treated as mere pawns in a game played by billionaires.”
Here’s some analysis of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter by my colleagues Kari Paul and Alex Hern:
Hate speech and misinformation experts are bracing for the return of Donald Trump to the platform, as Elon Musk completes his acquisition of Twitter.
The social media site permanently removed Trump in January 2021, saying the former president’s tweets were “highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts that took place at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021”.
However, earlier this year Musk said he would reverse that ban, calling Twitter “left-biased”, and on Thursday he reportedly sacked the executive responsible.
“I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump,” the Tesla CEO told a Financial Times conference in May. “I think that was a mistake. It alienated the country and did not result in Donald Trump not having a voice. I think it was a morally bad decision and foolish in the extreme.”
Eliot Higgins, founder and creative director of Bellingcat, the Netherlands-based investigative journalism group, says Twitter’s failure to self-regulate would lead to tighter government rules for all social media firms.
A lack of self-regulation on Twitter will just increase the likelihood of government regulation of all social media, it’s as simple as that.
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) October 28, 2022
Has there been an explanation to why suddenly follower counts on lots of account dropped overnight? Twitter getting in some bans before the Musk era begins?
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) October 28, 2022
In 2007, Bobbie Johnson, former Guardian technology correspondent in London, tried to answer the question many in the UK were asking about the new ‘micro-blogging’ site from the US that was creating huge amounts of buzz: “What is Twitter, and is there any reason I should care?”
In his piece for the paper’s technology supplement (unearthed by Jason Rodrigues of the Guardian’s research & information department), he said of Twitter: “On first glance it is a baffling and seemingly pointless service – but underneath it proves intriguing, useful and addictive for those who live on the move”. You can read the full article here.
Ironically, the debate about the future of Twitter following its acquisition by the world’s richest man Elon Musk is being conducted on the social media platform – where else?
The American lawyer Tristan Snell tweeted this morning:
People are not leaving Twitter in droves. The drops in follower count are happening in sudden chunks — it’s bot cleanup, not actual people quitting.
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) October 28, 2022
Top EU official: ‘In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules’
Amid fears that Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and his stance as a “free speech absolutist” could turn it into a platform for hate speech, Thierry Breton, the commissioner for internal market of the European Union, has weighed in.
Responding to Musk’s tweet, he said:
He used the the hashtag DSA – a reference to the Digital Services Act, one of two new packages of EU legislation designed to tighten regulation of social media.
Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister (and former lead Brexit negotiator for the European Parliament) who sits in the European Parliament, says:
So one man @elonmusk now owns the biggest debate in the world…
The need for rules and accountability is bigger than ever !
Self-regulation in social media has never worked… even with lesser characters than his pic.twitter.com/h7LYYxVo4W
— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) October 28, 2022
The American multi-media journalist and novelist David Leavitt says:
There’s a massive flood of literally hundreds of people each minute using the N word and rampant hate speech happening on Twitter right now post Elon purchase pic.twitter.com/uAqnZJuwjW
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) October 28, 2022
If you type the n word or Holocaust into the search bar then click latest you can view and report racists that have come out of the woodwork after Elon Musk bought twitter in real time.
But will Twitter do anything about it?
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) October 28, 2022
