Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, who stepped down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) last year, is due to pocket $978 million, an equivalent of N4 billion in Nigerian currency, from the sale of the micro-blogging site.
BizWatch Nigeria had reported that Twitter shareholders unanimously agreed to sell the site to billionaire Elon Musk in a $44 billion deal.
“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,” the parties were quoted as saying in a joint statement.
Dorsey, however, owns 2.4% of Twitter, which translates into 18,042,428 shares, according to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.
Twitter’s board of directors accepted Musk’s offer to buy the company at $54.20 per share.
Meanwhile, Dorsey has stated that Musk is the only solution to achieving the purpose of Twitter being run for the public good.
His tweets read: “I love Twitter. Twitter is the closest thing we have to global consciousness. The idea and service are all that matter to me, and I will do whatever it takes to protect both.
“Twitter as a company has always been my sole issue and my biggest regret. It has been owned by Wall Street and the ad model. Taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step.
“In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving the problem of it being a company, however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.
“Elon’s goal of creating a platform that is ‘maximally trusted and broadly inclusive’ is the right one. This is also @paraga’s goal, and why I chose him.
“Thank you both for getting the company out of an impossible situation. This is the right path…I believe it with all my heart.”
