Elon Musk is not yet done with Twitter. The tech billionaire made an offer to buy the company at USD 54.20 per share or roughly USD 43 billion. He recently turned down an invitation to join Twitter’s board after he bought 9.2% of the company, becoming its largest shareholder.
At least now we know why Musk declined to join Twitter’s board. The move was seen as a hostile takeover in a bid to turn it into a private company. Musk wants Twitter to be a bastion of “free speech” and to “open source” its algorithms.
In an SEC filing, Musk said “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.“
“However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company,” he adds.
“As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter, and a 38% premium over the day before my investment was publicly announced. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.“
“Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.“
Musk’s USD 54.20 offer is over 50% premium as he is not interested in playing the back-and-forth game. He further stated that “If the deal doesn’t work, given that I don’t have confidence in management nor do I believe I can drive the necessary change in the public market, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.”
Also Read: Elon Musk is now a board member of Twitter
Musk clarified that this was not a threat, and said that it’s just not a good investment without the changes that need to be made. He did mention a Plan B should Twitter reject his offer.
Seeing how mercurial the billionaire is nowadays, it’s interesting to see what happens next.
