Elon Musk finally bought Twitter after months of court drama, media drama, and boardroom drama. But with the deal finally closed, here's a timeline of how the bird app finally landed in Musk's lap.
Timeline of How Elon Musk Bought Twitter
Elon Musk's bid to buy other companies like Coca Cola may have been a joke, but it turns out he was serious about Twitter. This is how he got there.
May 23, 2018
Musk tweets about setting up a site that would rate the credibility of the media and give it a score, kind of like how Rotten Tomatoes scores movies. He proposes calling the site Pravda.
January 31, 2022
Four years later, Pravda has not seen the light of day. However, Musk begins to quietly buy Twitter shares.
March 26, 2022
Musk criticizes Twitter, obliquely accusing it of "failing to adhere to free speech principles".
April 4, 2022
Musk reveals he has acquired 9.2% of Twitter. Musk broke the law by not revealing his stake once he crossed the 5% level.
April 5, 2022
Twitter appoints Musk to its board.
April 10, 2022
Musk declines to join Twitter's board.
April 14, 2022
Musk launches a hostile takeover bid of Twitter. He files an offer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to purchase Twitter at $54.20/ share, or $43.4 billion.
April 15, 2022
Twitter launches a bid to block Musk from acquiring control; this move, called the "poison pill defense", dilutes Musk's shares, which theoretically would either delay or make it too costly for Musk to acquire enough shares to control Twitter.
April 21, 2022
Musk announces that he has secured $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter.
April 25, 2022
Twitter stops defending against Musk's hostile bid and formally announces it has accepted Musk’s offer. The deal locks Musk in, stipulating he will pay a penalty of $1 billion if he walks away.
May 13, 2022
Musk pauses the deal. Reason? He complains Twitter has too many spam accounts, or bots.
May 26, 2022
Twitter shareholder William Heresniak sues Musk for wrongful conduct, false statements, and market manipulation.
July 8, 2022
Musk complains Twitter is “in material breach of multiple provisions” of their mutual agreement. He cancels the deal to buy Twitter.
July 12, 2022
Twitter sues Musk in Delaware, where it is incorporated, and asks the court to force Musk to conclude the deal on the terms that were agreed. The court expedites the case.
July 29, 2022
Musk counter-sues Twitter, accusing the company of fraud over bot numbers.
September 9, 2022
The Delaware court releases personal text messages relevant to the Twitter case between Musk, his friends, and Twitter executives.
October 4, 2022
Musk offers to buy Twitter again.
October 6, 2022
Musk asks the Delaware court to postpone Twitter's case. The court gives both parties a deadline of 28 October at 5pm to seal the deal.
October 26, 2022
Musk and Twitter seal the deal. Musk walks into Twitter's offices while carrying a sink. The purchase is completed the next day, giving Musk sole ownership. Musk changes his Twitter bio to "Chief Twit".
October 31, 2022
After firing most of Twitter's executive team, Musk dissolves the entire Twitter board and makes himself sole director and CEO.
Did Musk Overpay for Twitter?
By Musk's own admission, he paid a premium of between 70-90% for Twitter, based on what its value would be worth if its shares were allowed to float freely at current stock prices.
If only Musk had waited a year, perhaps he could have picked up Twitter for as low as $5 billion. By this logic, Musk might have overpaid for Twitter by up to almost $40 billion.
Was it worth it? Only time will tell. For better or worse, Twitter now belongs to Elon Musk.