Twitter has filed documents asking to remove its shares from the New York Stock Exchange, the first official step toward becoming a private company under Elon Musk’s ownership.
The document, known as Form 25, is what companies must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission to delist shares from public exchanges. Twitter issued the document on Friday morning, effectively ending a nine-year run on the stock market.
On Thursday night, Mr. Musk closed his $44 billion deal to buy the social media platform, avoiding what could have been months of drama and legal challenges as he changed his mind about buying the company. He also began cleaning house, with at least four top Twitter executives — including the chief executive and chief financial officer — getting fired on Thursday. Ned Segal, Twitter’s now former chief financial officer, confirmed his departure Friday morning.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such an incredible group of people building the world’s town square for all of our stakeholders,” he tweeted.
The closing of the deal set Twitter on an uncertain course. Mr. Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has said that he wants to make the social media platform a more freewheeling place for all types of commentary, and that he would “reverse the permanent ban” of former President Donald J. Trump from the service.
Mr. Musk’s takeover of Twitter was lauded Friday morning by some of the former president’s supporters.
“The bird is free, now free the GOAT,” tweeted Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, tagging Mr. Trump’s suspended Twitter handle.
Mr. Musk, 51, will be remaking Twitter without having to disclose how it is performing every few months. By taking the company private, he does not need to regularly answer to shareholders and can make changes to the service away from the public’s prying eyes. He will, however, need to answer to lenders that helped fund the deal with about $13 billion in debt. The social media giant will be on the hook for about $1 billion in interest payments annually.
Sumber: www.nytimes.com
