Musk Twitter Fallout Roundup

Following yesterday’s big news that Twitter’s board voted to accept Musk’s offer, there’s been a wave of reactions, from jubilation to absolute panic. We’ll sample some of those. But first a clarification: Despite the board accepting the bid, there are additional steps before Musk owns Twitter outright.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

As is customary once a company agrees to be acquired, the buyer gets to take a closer look at its books to make sure there aren’t any red flags that haven’t come up via the company’s public filings.

This step in the process isn’t likely to cause any obstacles for the deal, said Angelo Zino, tech analyst at CFRA.

“He’s acquiring this company, not from a financial perspective,” Zino said. “He’s going to do what he wants with it and he’s probably going to look to make significant changes to the business model of the company.”

WHAT SAY COULD REGULATORS HAVE?

Last year, Twitter generated $5 billion in revenue, with $2.8 billion from the U.S. and the rest earned overseas, Zino said. The Federal Trade Commission in the U.S., or the European Commission in the EU, are among regulatory agencies that may review the proposed Twitter buyout.

The main issues the agencies generally focus on are how the sale of a company could affect competition in an industry, or whether it violates antitrust laws.

These reviews can take months, or longer, but generally represent more of a potential hurdle when two companies in the same industry are combining, or in the case of a single buyer, whether ownership already has a large stake in companies within the same industry.

Neither Tesla, nor Musk’s other company, Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, are social media platforms, so antitrust concerns are not expected to arise when regulators review the deal, analysts said.

“We do not expect any major regulatory hurdles to the deal getting done as this soap opera now ends with Musk owning Twitter,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a research note Monday.

WHEN DO SHAREHOLDERS GET TO VOTE?

The deal is expected to close in 2022, subject to the approval of Twitter shareholders. Twitter hasn’t announced the timing of a shareholder vote, though the company’s annual meeting is set for May 25, which could offer a convenient time to poll shareholders.

A company can elect to hold a shareholder vote at any time, even before regulators have finished reviewing a proposed takeover.

Now, let’s tuck into some of the tastier reactions, starting with the man himself:

Rogan:

Iowahawk:

For want of The Bee:

And a final word from The Babylon Bee itself: “Musk’s Twitter Purchase Fails After 138,000 Board Votes Found Overnight.”

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2022 at 6:09 PM and is filed under Democrats, Media Watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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