Twitter Inc., entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk, for $ 54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at roughly $ 44 billion.

Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company. It is a seminal moment for the 16-year-old company, which emerged as one of the world's most influential public squares and now faces a string of challenges.

Parag Agrawal, CEO, Twitter says, “Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”

Musk criticized Twitter's moderation, and called himself a free speech absolutist, saying that Twitter's algorithm for prioritizing tweets should be public, criticizing it for giving too much power on the service to corporations that advertise.

Political activists expect that a Musk regime will mean less moderation and reinstatement of banned individuals including former President Donald Trump.

Conservatives cheered the prospect of fewer controls while some human rights activists voiced fears of a rise in hate speech.

Musk himself has described user-friendly tweaks to the service, such as an edit button and defeating ‘spam bots’ that send overwhelming amounts of unwanted tweets.

Last week’s discussions over the deal accelerated over the weekend after Musk wooed Twitter shareholders with financing details of his offer.

Musk says, “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.”

Twitter shares rose 5.7 percent on Monday to close at $ 51.70. The deal represents a near 40 percent premium to the closing price the day before Musk disclosed he had bought a more than nine percent stake.

Moreover, the offer is well below the $ 70 range where Twitter was trading last year.

Jonathan Boyar, managing director at Boyar Value Group says, “I think if the company were given enough time to transform, we would have made substantially more than what Musk is currently offering.”