The takeover battle for Twitter could come to an unexpectedly quick end: According to several media reports, the American internet company is in advanced negotiations about a sale to Elon Musk and is ready to accept his offer of around 43 billion dollars.

The currently richest person in the world is therefore on the verge of becoming the owner of one of the most important online platforms in addition to his duties as CEO of the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the space company SpaceX.

Roland Lindner

Business correspondent in New York.

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Twitter had initially vehemently resisted a sale and even announced a so-called "poison pill" that would have made Musk's project considerably more difficult.

But in the past few days, the company has probably given up its resistance.

The turnaround apparently had something to do with the fact that Musk presented a comprehensive financing plan on Thursday that included loan commitments from a number of well-known banks.

The Tesla boss is also said to have held talks with a number of Twitter shareholders to secure support for his takeover bid.

All of this has apparently increased the pressure on Twitter's board of directors to enter into negotiations.

Now, within a few weeks, an investment appears to have turned into a complete takeover.

In early April, Musk announced that he had bought a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter.

That made him one of the largest shareholders and fueled speculation as to how far his intentions might reach.

At first, things went well: Twitter offered Musk a seat on the board of directors, in return the Tesla boss promised not to increase his stake to more than 14.9 percent.

But that quickly became a waste, and within days Musk made an unsolicited takeover bid.

He said he would pay $54.20 a share and take Twitter private.

He called this his "best and final offer."

Does he have to offer more?

Even after the offer was presented, questions remained about how serious Musk really is about his takeover attempt and whether he could finance a transaction, especially since most of his wealth is linked to Tesla shares.

He countered such doubts with his financing plan, which included commitments totaling $46.5 billion.

Of that, $25.5 billion was promised by a group of banks, half of which is said to be backed by Musk's Tesla shares.

The group of possible lenders is led by Morgan Stanley and includes a number of well-known banks, including Barclays, Bank of America and BNP Paribas.

Musk intends to contribute the remaining $21 billion himself as equity, although it is considered possible that he will not only use his own wealth,

The funding plan gave his acquisition plan more credibility and put Twitter under pressure.

It was actually expected that the company would officially reject Musk's offer in the coming days after the poison pill had already been announced.

Some analysts also suggested that Musk would have to raise the price to at least $60, so it would be remarkable if his initial bid were to be accepted.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told CNBC on Monday that Twitter had been unsuccessfully looking for another bidder.

Twitter's share price rose 3 percent Monday to around $50.50, not too far off Musk's price.

Twitter has fared significantly worse than some of its competitors in the financial markets over the past few years.

The company went public in 2013 and initially experienced a brilliant debut, the share price jumped well above the issue price to just under 45 dollars on the first day.

Since then, it has often slipped below this value, and it was also lower before Musk joined the company.

Critics often accuse Twitter of not exploiting its economic potential.

Despite its large presence in the public debate, the company has often struggled to expand its user base.

It changed leadership last November, with co-founder Jack Dorsey handing over the chairmanship to Parag Agrawal.

The new Twitter boss has set ambitious targets for sales and user numbers, but a sale to Elon Musk may mean that

that he can no longer implement his strategy himself.

Musk has openly expressed his distrust in Twitter management.

Musk has said he doesn't primarily pursue financial motives on Twitter.

He has recently repeatedly criticized the online platform and accused it of excessive censorship of content.

In its current form, the company does not serve freedom of expression, and that is bad for democracy.

Musk struck a similar tone as politicians from the Republican Party do in America.

This camp also criticized the fact that the corporations excluded former President Donald Trump.

If Musk were to own Twitter, it is conceivable that he would try to change the rules on how controversial content is handled.

It would also raise the question of whether Trump would be unlocked under him.

Musk has also raised other issues in recent weeks that he might change as an owner.

For example, he suggested that Twitter should rely more on fees than on advertising as a source of income.

With more than 83 million followers, Musk is one of the most prominent Twitter users.

He is also one of the biggest provocateurs and regularly attracts attention with insults.

Just over the weekend, he attacked Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for betting on falling Tesla prices.