Twitter on Monday confirmed it is selling the platform to Elon Musk in a deal valued at $44 billion.

The sale was a dramatic shift for the board. They had originally maneuvered to block Musk from taking the social media network private.

“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,” Musk said in a joint release announcing the takeover.