Elon Musk’s Twitter Bid by The Numbers: Alex Webb

Elon Musk. Twitter Inc. A $43 billion takeover offer. And a sharp intake of breath from the microblogging platform’s 217 million users.

Beyond his desire for an edit button and some vague comments about “free speech” and Twitter’s “extraordinary potential,” we can’t know for sure what Musk has in mind for the San Francisco-based company. Let’s set aside concerns over whether he would, as owner, be a responsible steward, and examine the cold, hard financials.

The richest person in the world’s $54.20-a-share offer (420 – geddit?) values Twitter at $43 billion. In the filing announcing the ...