South Africa born American billionaire, Elon Musk, has now become the official owner of popular social media platform, Twitter. The platform has released a statement confirming the sale of the platform for $44 billion.

“The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders,” Bret Taylor the company’s independent board chair, said in a statement.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, reiterated his plans to remake Twitter as a forum dedicated to promoting free speech.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” he said in a statement.

Musk will pay $54.20 cash per share for the San Francisco-based company, which will now be taken private after days of intense negotiations between the entrepreneur and the platform’s board.

“Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important," said Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s CEO.

The board announced it had reached a deal with Mr Musk on Monday, and that it represented a 38 per cent premium from Twitter’s closing price on 1 April, the day before the world’s richest person made his move for the company by announcing his nine per cent stake.