Twitter agrees to $44 billion Musk buyout, wrapping a rapid takeover saga (updated)
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Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and its board on Monday came to a sale agreement with Elon Musk for $44 billion - giving in to a relatively rapid hostile courtship from the eccentric billionaire and Tesla (TSLA) chief executive.
The deal is for $54.20 a share in cash, which was what Musk had called his first, and also "best and final" offer. Twitter's (TWTR) board unanimously approved Musk's offer, and the deal is expected to close in 2022. Twitter will go private in the deal.
The price marks a 38% premium to Twitter's closing price on April 1, the last session before Musk disclosed a 9% stake in the company.
Twitter (TWTR) shares ended the day up by 5.7% at $51.70.
Twitter (TWTR) Chairman Bret Taylor said in a statement announcing the deal that the company's board conducted "a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. Taylor went on to say that Musk's offer presents "the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders." 
In the same statement, Musk called Twitter (TWTR) "the digital town square where matters vital to the future on humanity are debated." Musk, who had received some criticism prior to the deal over concerns that he might radically change what content is allowed on the Twitter (TWTR) platform, steered clear of sounding controversial about his new acquisition.
"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy," Musk said. "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."
Not all Twitter (TWTR) watchers were completely sold on Musk's acquisition of the social-media giant.
"My concern is that he is a free speech absolutist and is only concerned about his future, not ours," said Tim Bajarin, longtime tech-industry analyst and director of Silicon Valley consultancy Creative Strategies. "[I question if] Twitter will become more toxic."
With the deal in hand, and no apparent competing bids arriving, Musk tweeted: "I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means."
Musk had reportedly lined up $46.5 billion in committed financing, including $21 billion in equity commitment from Musk himself. The newly agreed deal has no financing conditions. Musk and Twitter's team were said to have worked through Sunday night into Monday, in order to finalize walk-away details around the acquisition plan.
Twitter (TWTR) had adopted a "poison pill" takeover defense on April 15, but by Sunday night it had changed stances to re-examine Musk's offer, with no "white knight" bidder in the wings.
Before the deal was announced - but when it seemed very likely - Loop Capital downgraded Twitter (TWTR) to Hold, saying it didn't look likely other bidders were coming in, and noting that Twitter had hit its fundamental price target (for $51.00) and were close to Musk's $54.20 bid. "Conceptually, a $44 billion enterprise value seems low" for Twitter, a similar value to a depressed SNAP valuation, it says, but the company doesn't generate enough free cash flow to support a higher bid.
Twitter will report earnings before the open on April 28 - but with a go-private plan in place, it's canceled its earnings conference call.
Updated 3:04 p.m.: Tesla (TSLA) shares have started a move down but haven't yet set their session low, down 2.1%. Musk equity financing is reportedly against his Tesla holdings, at least in part.
Updated 3:11 p.m.: With the news out, Twitter (TWTR) has resumed trading, up 6.3% to $52.01.
Updated 3:17 p.m.: Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) - the SPAC that's taking Donald Trump's social-media effort Truth Social public - are back around their session lows, down 17.5%, after a brief volatility spike. As for Trump, he tells Fox News he'll formally join his own Truth Social over the next seven days, adding "I hope Elon buys Twitter because heâll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth." The stock has been lower throughout Monday as news of a Musk/Twitter deal got closer to being realized.
Updated 3:23 p.m.: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal will address the company's employees at 5 p.m. ET.