Didn’t get a chance to keep up with the Twitter sale saga over the weekend? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In the month since Twitter first began its search for potential buyers, several companies including Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Apple, and even Disney were rumored to be interested in acquiring the platform. While these potential bidders exited the race early on, it was believed that software maker Salesforce would be the one to seal the deal and take over Twitter.
However, Salesforce shareholders expressed concern over the potential acquisition, questioning whether a B2B software company would be qualified to repair a failing social media company. Perhaps ceding to pressure, Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s CEO, revealed late Friday that the company was walking away from an acquisition deal, citing that Twitter “wasn’t the right fit” for them. Unsurprisingly, Salesforce’s dropout led to a rise in its own stock and a hefty tumble in Twitter’s.
With no potential bidders in sight, Twitter faced the options of either continuing to struggle independently or negotiating a leveraged buyout with massive restructuring. However, Twitter may have found its savior this past weekend in SoftBank, a Japanese telecom giant that is rumored to be next in line to make a bid. SoftBank may actually be the best fit for Twitter, as its home market of Japan is the only place in the world where Twitter is more popular than Facebook. While the prospect of this acquisition may be a source of relief for the folks over at Twitter, we’re sure that the volatile history of this sale has taught them never to celebrate prematurely.
Stay tuned to for more breaking news from Social Media Explorer.
Image credits: Martin Abegglen, Greg Habbermann
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