Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk made his best and final offer to buy Twitter for $43 billion or $54.20 a share, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
Elon Musk wants to transform Twitter into a private company as he realizes that “the company will neither thrive nor serve” free speech in its current form.
Earlier this month, Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk purchased a 9.2% passive stake in Twitter.
This made Elon Musk Twitter’s biggest shareholder after purchasing $2.89 billion worth of stock, according to a regulatory filing revealed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Musk was designated as one of Twitter’s Board of Directors in a deal that would prohibit him from owning more than 14.9% of the media giant’s common stock, but he declined the offer.
A group of angry Twitter shareholders on Tuesday sued Elon Musk for waiting too long to disclose his 9.2 percent stake in the company.
Now, Elon Musk offered to buy 100% of Twitter, according to his tweet on Thursday.
I made an offer https://t.co/VvreuPMeLu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
Musk sent a formal letter to Bret Taylor, chairman of the Twitter board:
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.
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.
Twitter’s market valuation is about $37 billion, and Musk’s offered to buy Twitter at about $43 billion, according to CNBC.
Bloomberg reported:
The world’s richest person will offer $54.20 per share in cash, valuing Twitter at about $43 billion. The social media company’s shares rose just 5.3% to $48.27 at the market open in New York as investors began to assess how one of the platform’s most outspoken users will succeed in his takeover attempt.
Musk, 50, announced the potential deal in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, after turning down a potential board seat at the company. The billionaire, who also controls Tesla Inc., first disclosed a stake of about 9% on April 4. Tesla shares fell about 1.8% on the news.
Twitter said that its board would review the proposal and any response would be in the best interests of “all Twitter stockholders.”
The bid is the most high-stakes clash yet between Musk and the social media platform. The executive is one of Twitter’s most-watched firebrands, often tweeting out memes and taunts to @elonmusk’s more than 80 million followers. He has been vociferous about changes he’d like to consider imposing at the social media platform, and the company offered him a seat on the board following the announcement of his $3.35 billion stake.
