Disney, Google and Salesforce amongst suitors eyeing up Twitter

Alan Martin September 27, 2016

Tweets may be growing, but the company’s userbase isn’t. Despite this, there’s no shortage of interest from larger companies looking to snap up Twitter: a social network that still consistently manages to spread and set the news agenda of the day.

Disney, Google and Salesforce amongst suitors eyeing up Twitter

Last week sources told CNBC that a list of companies – including Google and Salesforce – were considering making a move for the company, and that a bid of between $18bn to $30bn could be on the table. That seems like an awful lot, but after the report broke, Salesforce’s Vala Afshar tweeted his love of the platform:

Another interesting candidate has emerged though: Disney. TechCrunch reports that the House of Mouse is interested in the social network to amplify its reach, which is extremely handy given the company owns the likes of ESPN and ABC.

In its favour, there’s the fact that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is a board member at Disney, but there are a number of roadblocks along the way – and not just the eye-watering price Twitter is said to be holding out for. Culturally, the two companies are a very odd fit, with Twitter clinging doggedly on to its early vision of free speech above all else – a stance which has got it plenty of attention for all the wrong reasons as a hotpot of bullying and abuse. Disney, on the other hand has a reputation for being family friendly and almost certainly wouldn’t relish getting caught up in some of the trolling scandals that have dogged the social network over the years.

It’s also possibly not the right buyer for Twitter, which could see other media owners back away from using a service owned by a direct rival, and able to push its content more aggressively at the expense of others.

Whomever ends up buying Twitter, the speculation is doing great things for the company’s value. Before the rumours began, Twitter was trading at $18.63 per share – by Monday afternoon, it had reached $23.37.

Image: Thomas used under Creative Commons