CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Elon Musk is the new owner of Twitter, purchasing the company for $44 billion.
It's one of the quickest turnarounds for an individual to purchase a business, according to Caleb Silver, editor-in-chief of Investopedia.
"It's rare to see a deal this size close so quickly," Silver said. "But you do see it in the private equity world, but that's usually shrouded away from the public's attention."
Musk's buyout of the social media company means he is taking Twitter private.
Jim Cox, a professor at Duke Law, said this will be a significant change, and the impacts will likely be felt quickly by users.
"He has no reporting responsibilities," Cox said. "Right now, Twitter is a publicly-traded firm, it has to file periodic reports annually and quarterly, and even after significant events like this...much more transparency. What we're going to see is that this disappears for Twitter."
No longer will the public be able to see into Twitter's financials, said Cox, because Musk is removing it from being a publicly-traded company.
This means Musk can essentially make whatever changes he wants, said Silver, but within reason. One of the first changes Musk has been vocal about is adding an edit button to Twitter.
Cox pointed out Musk will have to run some of the bigger changes -- such as his ideas to allow different kinds of speech and an end to 'banning' users -- by others in the company.
"We're living in a world in which individuals at the top have to understand that a lot of their success depends upon the people who are working at the bench," Cox said.
Silver said it's hard to predict when exactly drastic changes will be made to Twitter's platform, but he said Musk is known for moving quickly.
To determine if Musk is taking Twitter in the right direction, Cox said to look at how the company is doing under Musk's leadership within a year.
"I just think this is an extremely risky moment to be doing this kind of a deal and to make a profit," Cox said. "I think we'll know in 12 months if the new Twitter model works out or not."
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