Elon Musk bought Twitter. Here’s how it happened.

Elon Musk bought Twitter. Here’s how it happened.

Laura Normand / The Verge

The deal is done — Elon Musk owns Twitter now.

After six months of wrangling, it’s all over: Elon Musk owns Twitter. How did that happen? Read on — we’ll lay out every step of how it happened and how the billionaire is now in control of Twitter, with several former execs abruptly escorted out of the building and Twitter employees awaiting the first updates from their new “Chief Twit.”

The $44 billion offer Twitter’s investors couldn’t refuse.

First, we learned that Elon Musk had purchased enough shares of Twitter to become its largest individual shareholder. The company announced Musk would take a seat on its board of directors, but within the space of a week, that plan unraveled, and Musk informed the board he would not accept the position.

Elon’s next move came in the form of an unsolicited offer to buy 100 percent of Twitter’s shares for $54.20 each, or about $44 billion. Twitter accepted Elon Musk’s offer to purchase the company for $44 billion. Elon Musk was acquiring Twitter!

Of course, things couldn’t be that simple.

Elon Musk tries to cancel the deal and says it’s because of the bots.

Musk sent a letter to Twitter saying he plans on terminating their merger agreement, claiming the company is in material breach of the deal and accusing Twitter of “false and misleading representations upon which Mr. Musk relied when entering into the Merger Agreement.” Twitter then sued Musk in an effort to force him to finish the deal, and the fight seemed like it was headed to trial in Delaware’s Chancery Court in October. What followed was months of legal wrangling over evidence, accusations of fraud, and even a few depositions.

Elon Musk decides to buy Twitter, again.

Finally, Musk decided to do what he had already agreed to do and buy Twitter. Judge Kathaleen McCormick gave the two sides a deadline of 5PM on October 28th to close the deal, and with time ticking down on the evening of the 27th, the deal has closed, and Elon Musk reportedly began Twitter’s new era of private ownership by firing several executives, including previous CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and policy chief Vijaya Gadde.

What does this mean for Musk, and for Twitter?

Musk, who already leads Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink, is one of Twitter’s most visible users, with a large audience of devoted followers. The billionaire exec spontaneously shares earthshaking company plans, uncredited memes, and bizarre accusations. That’s in addition to responses that serve as a global tech support line for people who want everything from help with their electric car to politicians seeking satellite internet so they can keep citizens connected during a war.

Musk has said he plans to turn the platform into something more like WeChat and TikTok, would bring Donald Trump back to the platform, and thinks Twitter could have a billion users in just a few years.