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The new owner of the Twitter platform, Elon Musk, who bought it at the end of April for $44 billion, wants to introduce a “small fee” for using the social network for companies and government agencies. For ordinary users, the platform will always remain free, Musk assured.
After announcing in April his desire to buy the company, Elon Musk said that his goal is to realize the huge potential that lies in it.
It proposes several changes, one of which is the relaxation of restrictions on published content.
However, this proposal caused a storm of discontent in certain circles. Opponents of the change say Twitter’s restrictions primarily target hate-inciting content.
The American TV channel CNN has called on large US corporations to boycott Twitter if the policy of restrictions is revised.
Musk, in turn, states that Twitter is a niche platform, and owners need to constantly maintain its attractiveness.
He promises that the company will soon introduce new features to users. In particular, the Twitter Blue premium subscription service.
As part of a paid additional service, features such as canceling a tweet (undo), bookmarks and reading mode will be added, the company says.
Musk also intends to eradicate all fake accounts and bots.
On Monday at New York’s annual Met Gala, he said he would make the promotion and removal of tweets as transparent as possible and would like the platform’s software to be available for public scrutiny.
It is expected to become fully owned by the end of this year, once all shareholder and regulatory approvals have been formalized.
Under the terms of the deal, he will buy back all of the company’s shares, as a result of which Twitter will turn from a public company into a private one.
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to Musk, the multibillionaire intends to start selling Twitter shares again about three years after the purchase of the company.
He also promises potential investors to return Twitter to the stock market in just a few years.
Last week, Elon Musk sold about $8.5 billion worth of shares in his Tesla company, and rumors began to circulate in business circles that the money would be used to buy Twitter.
As a result, Tesla shares fell more than 20% due to fears that Musk’s own stake in the company will decrease.
Elon Musk is the richest man on the planet, Forbes magazine estimates his fortune at $273.6 billion, mainly due to his shares in Tesla.
He also owns a $100 billion controlling stake in another space technology company he founded, SpaceX.