JUST IN: Board unanimously approves Elon Musk’s $44B Twitter takeover bid

According to an SEC filing, Elon Musk took a step closer to completing his $44 billion takeover of Twitter on Tuesday when the company’s board of directors unanimously approved his buyout offer, New York Times reports.

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, Twitter shares were up just under 1%, selling for slightly more than $38 per share, significantly below Musk’s tender offer of $54.20 per share.

The regulatory filing comes just days after Musk attended a virtual all-hands meeting with Twitter staff, signaling that the world’s richest man is serious about pursuing his takeover aspirations.

Last month, Musk claimed he was putting the acquisition “on hold” while Twitter’s restrictions on bots and spam accounts were reviewed.

Musk threatened to get out of the contract unless Twitter could prove that spam and bot accounts account for less than 5% of its daily users.

Musk has stated that he believes up to 20% of Twitter’s 229 million users are spambots, which is four times the proportion touted by the business.

Twitter’s board of directors “unanimously recommends that you vote (for) the adoption of the merger agreement,” according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

If the acquisition were to conclude right now, shareholders would make a $15.22 profit on each share they held.

Once Musk’s takeover is finalized, Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter who stepped down as CEO last year, would receive $978 million.

As a result of the deal, Parag Agrawal, the current CEO of the San Francisco-based software firm, would walk away with a $42 million payment.

According to SEC filings, Dorsey controls 2.4 percent of the corporation, which corresponds to 18,042,428 shares.

Agrawal, the former chief technology officer who succeeded Dorsey as CEO late last year, would be paid $42 million, while CFO Ned Segal would be paid $25.5 million.

The reimbursements for Agrawal and Segal would be triggered by a “change in control” clause in their contracts, which kicks in if one of them is fired within 12 months of new ownership taking over.