It could take even longer than that depending on how slow the SEC and FCC drag their feet. People need to understand that Musk also owns Starlink (the Internet provider) so he has to clear “imaginary hurdles” spelled out by both the SEC and FCC. Because they have made up/fake rules that make it difficult for companies that have conflicts with other industries to just both own a platform such as Twitter or a news company for example and also be the distributor (Starlink) - or - access point.

This process never happens overnight, ever. Especially if the Senate wants to get involved too.