Elon Musk has reached a $44bn (£34.6bn) deal to buy Twitter, it has been announced.
The purchase means Twitter will become a private company and therefore, taken off the stock market.
Earlier this, the tech mogul made a surprise offer to buy the platform and put in a bid of $54.20 a share to accquire it.
“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,” said Musk in a statement.
“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.
“Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
The owner of SpaceX and Tesla had previously said the social media platform is not living up to its potential as a place for free speech.
"Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world," CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet.
"Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."
In a recent TED interview, the billionaire said he would like to see Twitter err on the side of allowing speech instead of moderating it.
Just days ago, Musk rejected a seat on the company’s board which would have stopped him taking over the social media giant.
Hours before the deal was announced, Musk tweeted that he hopes his “critics remain on Twitter”.
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
Bret Taylor, Twitter's Independent Board Chair, said, "The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing.
“The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders."
