X Corp acquires tech recruiting platform Laskie
In its first deal under Musk’s leadership, Twitter’s parent company X Corp acquires Laskie, a talent recruitment tool. Though the exact price of the acquisition is unclear, it was apparently “tens of millions” of dollars, with the deal including cash and equity elements.
Laskie is a San-Francisco based startup founded in 2021 by current CEO Chris Bakke, and apparently has somewhere between 11 and 50 employees. Its aim has been to connect tech talent with employers using tools that are “designed to make your job search faster, more efficient, and less stressful,” but now the platform’s website displays a message saying its platform is “no longer available.” Twitter has not publicly confirmed the deal.
Musk completes takeover of Twitter
Musk completes his $44 billion takeover of Twitter.
the bird is freed
the bird is freed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Later:
let the good times roll
🎶 let the good times roll 🎶
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Musk to buy Twitter at original price, share trading halted
Trading in Twitter shares is halted as the stock spiked following reports that Musk is planning to buy the company for his original offer price of $54.20 per share. The shares had been up by 13% at $47.95 before trading was paused following the news. Twitter and Musk were due to be in court later this month as the company attempted to hold Musk to his original $44bn offer, made in April.
Musk had wanted to back out of the deal over the number of bot accounts on the platform, which he said was above Twitter’s estimate of 5% of users. The takeover deal has already received approval from Twitter shareholders.
Acquires SnappyTV
Twitter announces its acquisition of SnappyTV, a platform for clipping and editing small segments of TV shows. This allows Twitter users to easily share TV clips with their followers:
As Twitter has grown as the companion to live events and broadcast media, SnappyTV will help partners and brands bring the best videos into the conversation, when it matters most.
Acquires Vine
Twitter acquires Vine, a service that allows users to upload video clips up to six seconds long, before its official launch. The company spends $30,000,000 on the site. The three developers of Vine, Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov, and Colin Kroll, are all able to keep their positions at the company. Hofmann says:
Our companies share similar values and goals; like Twitter, we want to make it easier for people to come together to share and discover what’s happening in the world. We also believe constraint inspires creativity, whether it’s through a 140-character Tweet or a six-second video.