Well according to this report from Recode, it says the micro blogging site’s board will meet Thursday to discuss possibly about the future of the company and a sale option is on the table. According to the report, there are the big corporate names that might take another close look at Twitter, such as Google (there’s an unusual scenario one source mentioned in which it becomes part of some Alphabet media spinoff), Apple and even media mogul Rupert Murdoch, either via 21st Century Fox or News Corp. Other possible bidders include private equity firms that may want to take the company private, where it can solve some of its issues out of the public eye.
While Twitter’s leaders have long maintained that they want it to remain independent, the idea of a sale became more plausible after recent comments from co-founder and board member Evan Williams, who had also been the company’s CEO before being replaced by Dick Costolo in 2010. (Costolo was later replaced by co-founder Jack Dorsey, who had previously been replaced by Williams).
Twitter has still not found that one thing or flavour I might say that would make it attractive to investors. While the micro blogging site has seen its stocks underperform most of the time, it has seen a slow but steady increase in the number of new users which hasn’t necessarily resulted in revenue growth. To deal with that, Twitter opened up its live stream service Periscope to all users while placing emphasis on video ads in its feed. It also signed a series of sports deals with the American NFL (National Football League) to stream games which some thought could eventually increase engagement on the site which could in turn have a positive effect on advertising.
Twitter isn’t going to be sold you might say, well it was all rumours too until Yahoo as we know it was eventually bought for $4.8b from $128b once upon a time. Now reports have it that Twitter could be sold for as much (or low depending on what parameters you use) $20b should they tow that path now and who knows future if they linger.
Paul Femi Balo is the founder and publisher of TechBooky. He covers artificial intelligence, African technology, digital infrastructure, enterprise technology and the global digital economy.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
