Elon Musk will buy Twitter for $ 44 billion

Tesla co-founder Elon Musk has agreed to buy Twitter for $ 44 billion.

"I hope that even my worst critics will stay on Twitter, because that is what freedom of speech means”, Musk wrote.

"This will transfer control of the social media platform, which brings together millions of users and global leaders, to the richest person in the world”, the reports said.

Negotiations on the deal, which seemed vague last week, reportedly accelerated over the weekend after Musk asked Twitter shareholders about the financial details of his offer.

He agreed to buy the company for $ 54.20 per share. Musk has raised more than $ 25 billion in loans to make the deal a reality.

Shares of Twitter rose 5.7 percent to $ 51.70 after the news.

The deal completes and privatizes Twitter as a state-owned company since 2013.