Elon Musk to charge Twitter users after finalising takeover

World’s richest man, Elon Musk, has hinted on charging some category of Twitter users when the takeover deal is finalised, stating that services shouldn’t be provided for free on the platform.

Ripples Nigeria had previously reported Musk offered $43 billion to acquire 100% of the microblogging site after initially investing in the firm for 9.1% stake. Following a back and forth with the board, the management succumbed to his offer, which is backed by bank-led $46 billion financing.

Twitter has 206 million daily active users, and a total user base of 396.5 million. The platform has grown from being a discussion forum and messaging app into a marketing tool for small, medium and large enterprises.

The billionaire is looking to tap into the revenue grossed by these businesses using Twitter to expand exposure for their products or services in a bid to grow their earnings and reduce marketing cost.

Read also: Elon Musk halts sale of Tesla shares after fundraising for Twitter acquisition

In a tweet on Thursday, Musk said Twitter will introduce a fee for commercial and government users, stating that the cost will be slight.

“Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users,” Musk wrote on Twitter.

This was a follow up to a statement he made on Tuesday, speaking against offering certain services for free, “Ultimately, the downfall of the Freemasons was giving away their stonecutting services for nothing”

According to him, “Some revenue is better than none!”. This is in line with his takeover announcement, where he said Twitter has enormous potential he’s willing to unlock.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now