Tesla Motors Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Twitter have come to a $44 billion deal to give Elon Musk ownership of the company. With that being said, Musk, the world’s richest individual, has the power to run this social media platform with over 206 million daily users. 

SpaceX CEO stated his beliefs in a statement saying, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”

Musk believes that Twitter should not remove insulting comments that are still legal. “If it’s a gray area, let the tweet exist.”

The cash deal at $54.20 per share is valued at around $44 billion, according to the press release. Twitter would become a private company after the deal is completed. The stock closed up 5.64% for the day after it was halted for the news.

“I think [Elon Musk] will stand up for free speech for Americans and taking the company in private. The soapbox is gone. I hope that he will make sure everyone is able to share their opinion and say what they need to,” said junior Michael Carney, a high school politics enthusiast. 

Musk does not own Twitter yet, however, he is locked into a contract with a $1 billion penalty if he were to pull out. Both sides agreed to rules of behavior before the deal was to close, but Musk had already broken the rules two days later. 

Musk was allowed to tweet about the merger as long as the tweet did not belittle Twitter or any of its representatives. Twitter’s top lawyer and head of trust and safety supposedly cried in an internal meeting following the purchase by Musk. A conservative journalist then tweeted a screenshot of that written article about Twitter’s lawyer, tagging Musk.

Musk replied to that tweet agreeing with the critique of Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Vijaya Gadde, which ultimately violated Musk and the company’s agreement.

Many people are on the fence about the new ownership that will take place in a few months, especially considering Musk’s recent ‘Twitter fingers.”