The board of Twitter is negotiating with Tesla CEO Elon Musk over his bid to buy the social media giant. 

Media reports Monday said the two sides are close to reaching a deal.  

Musk recently announced that he wants to buy the platform and later unveiled a financing package to back the acquisition.  

The Reuters news agency reported that Musk’s final offer is $43 billion in cash, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

The New York Times reported that Twitter and Musk spoke into the early hours Monday and were discussing contingency plans if an agreement were to be signed and then fall apart.

Twitter shares were up more than 5% in trading Monday afternoon.  

Musk is the world’s richest person according to Forbes magazine with a nearly $279 billion fortune.

The businessman, who is also CEO of rocket developer SpaceX, has said Twitter needs to become a private company so that it can realize its potential for free speech. He has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist.”

Musk, who is a prolific tweeter with more than 83 million followers, tweeted Monday, “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”

He has proposed relaxing Twitter’s content restrictions, which could include rules that suspended former President Donald Trump’s account.  

Republicans cheered Musk’s possible takeover of Twitter.

“Hey, @elonmusk it’s a great week to free @realDonaldTrump,” tweeted the House Republican Conference.

Twitter banned Trump’s account after the U.S. Capitol was stormed on Jan. 6, 2021, citing a risk of more violence.

Some information in this report comes from the Associated Pres and Reuters.
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