Twitter, the popular microblogging platform and search engine, has been through several ownership changes since it was founded in 2006. The latest ownership change happened in August of 2018, when Twitter was acquired by Twitter, Inc. (Twitter) for $11 billion. This article will discuss the different ownership changes of Twitter, and how they have impacted its development and operation.
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Twitter’s Origins
Twitter was created in March 2006 as a side project by Jack Dorsey, then a student at New York University. Originally known as Twttr, the site allowed users to send and receive short messages, called “tweets.” In September 2007, Twitter announced that it had been acquired by microblogging service provider Twitter, Inc. for an undisclosed amount. On March 27, 2013, Twittter announced that it had acquired TweetDeck, a social media management application, for an undisclosed amount.
Who Owns Twitter?
Twitter, Inc. is a publicly traded company whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. As of September 30, 2014, Twitter had approximately 302 million monthly active users. In 2013, Twitter’s estimated revenue was $230 million. The majority of Twitter’s revenues come from advertising contracts with businesses and organizations. In February 2014, Twitter announced that it would sell its Vine video-sharing app to Google for $30 million. As of March 2014, there were approximately 100 million registered Vine users.
As of March 2014, tweets from Twitter accounts that are not affiliated with the company are limited to 140 characters in length. However, this limit can be increased by using an extended character format. For example: @username can use an extended character format of ~~~@username ~~~ to send a longer tweet than the traditional 140 characters. The ownership of a Twitter account is typically associated with the user’s name rather than the company that created the account. For example, Barack Obama is the owner of @BarackObama and Chelsea Clinton is the owner of @chelsea_clinton
Twitter’s Stock Price
Twitter announced on Thursday that it had filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the SEC. The company is expected to price its shares at $20-$25 each, giving it a valuation of up to $8 billion. Twitter’s co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey will continue to be the majority owner of the company.
In addition, Twitter has agreed not to sell its equity to anyone other than the founders and employees for at least six years. This means that Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams, both of whom are currently vice presidents at Twitter, will not be able to sell their shares until 2021.
Twitter’s filing comes after reports emerged that Facebook was also considering an IPO. However, Facebook later decided against going public.
Twitter’s stock price is down 6% since its IPO announcement on Thursday.
Twitter’s Future
Twitter’s future is uncertain, but its past shows that it has the potential to be an incredibly powerful tool. Who owns twitter? Who owns twitter? This is a question that has been asked countless times, and there is no clear answer. Twitter is owned by multiple companies, but the majority of its ownership is held by two companies: Twitter, Inc. and Facebook, Inc.
