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Musk’s Twitter Acquisition is Largest Take-Private since 2016

Elon Musk closed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter on Oct. 27, some six months after he first announced his intention to buy the social media platform.

The acquisition is the largest take-private deal since the 2016 purchase of data storage company EMC by Dell for $67 billion, according to PitchBook Data.

The closing of the deal follows months of public acrimony between Musk and Twitter leadership, an attempt by Musk to back out of the deal and lawsuits.

On the evening the deal closed, Musk sent a tweet that said “the bird is freed,” and news organizations reported the transaction was complete and that Musk had fired four senior leaders at the company. The next day, Twitter filed to have its stock delisted.

Musk’s takeover of Twitter became highly controversial because of his stated intent to reduce content moderation on the platform and, among other things, allow former President Donald Trump, who was banned from Twitter after the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, back on the platform.

Shortly before the deal closed, Musk posted a note directed at advertisers in which he said Twitter should not become a “free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences.” The day after the deal closed, he said in a tweet that “no major content decisions or account reinstatements” would take place before a newly formed content moderation council met.

 

Read More – www.pitchbook.com

 

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Binance to Buy FTX in Major Cryptocurrency Exchange Merger

Public squabble between the two largest offshore exchanges’ bosses led to run on FTX and forced sale

The two largest offshore cryptocurrency exchanges are merging, after a week of public squabbling between Binance’s chief executive, Changpeng Zhao, and FTX’s boss, Sam Bankman-Fried, triggered a bank run at the latter’s exchange and an embarrassing forced sale on Tuesday.

“This afternoon, FTX asked for our help,” tweeted Zhao. “There is a significant liquidity crunch. To protect users, we signed a non-binding letter of intent, intending to fully acquire FTX.com.”

The news was confirmed in a tweet by Bankman-Fried. He said: “Things have come full circle, and FTX.com’s first, and last, investors are the same: we have come to an agreement on a strategic transaction with Binance for FTX.com pending DD etc.”

The deal will see FTX being “fully acquired” by Binance, in return for covering the cash crunch at the embattled exchange. Further terms were not disclosed by either party.

Both Binance.US and FTX.US, the associated American regulated exchanges of the two companies, will remain independent.

Bankman-Fried is a major donor to the US Democratic party, and FTX was a top-20 contributor to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, giving over $5m. Bankman-Fried is reported to have donated about $40m this year in the run-up to today’s midterm elections.

The two chief executives are among the most prominent players in the industry, known by their initials – CZ and SBF – and each capable of moving markets with just a tweet. They have worked together in the past, with Binance investing in FTX at the exchange’s inception.

 

Read More – www.theguardian.com