Tuesday, December 10

Elon Musk and Twitter Closes deal for $44 billion

Twitter is in advanced discussions to sell itself to Elon Musk and could finalize a deal today on Monday, people familiar with the matter said.

The two sides worked through out the night to get out a deal that would be valued at $54.20 a share, or $44 billion, the people said. Assuming there isn’t a last-minute snag, the deal is expected to be announced after the market closes on Monday.

It’s not clear why the total value of the deal has increased slightly from prior expectations, but it could be related to an updated share count.

Elon Musk on April 14 offered a bid to buy the company without saying how he would pay for it, calling it his “best and final” offer. Twitter had been expected to rebuff the offer, and put in place a so-called poison pill to block him from increasing his stake. But after the Tesla chief disclosed that he has $46.5 billion in financing and the stock market swooned, Twitter changed its posture and opened the door to negotiations.