China dismisses suggestions of influence over Twitter as mere 'guessing'

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China on Tuesday pushed back at suggestions that it will be able to control Twitter after billionaire Elon Musk takes over the social media company.

“You are very good at guessing, but without any factual basis,” Wang Wenbin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told a news conference in Beijing.

He was replying to a question on whether China will exert its influence on Twitter, purchased for $44 billion by Elon Musk, whose electricity-powered Tesla cars have the second-biggest manufacturing in China.

Twitter announced Monday it has accepted Musk's offer to be purchased for $44 billion.

The social media company has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Musk, in which Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each common stock they own.

"The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter's closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter," the statement said.

Twitter will become a privately held company after the deal is closed.

Entrepreneur and business magnate Musk, the founder of electric carmaker Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX, announced on April 4 that he bought a 9.2% share in Twitter, becoming the social media platform’s biggest investor.

Musk was exploring a tender offer to buy Twitter, as he received a $46.5 billion commitment for the deal.