Elon Musk tries to buy Twitter for $41billion: Tesla CEO offers $54.20 a share
Elon Musk tries to buy Twitter for $41BILLION: Tesla CEO offers $54.20 a share and says if his offer is not accepted ‘I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder. Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it’
He provided a letter to Twitter Inc. on Wednesday containing a proposal to buyThe outspoken Tesla CEO currently owns more than 9 percent of Twitter’s stockShares of Twitter jumped nearly 12 percent before the market open on Thursday He said investment bank Morgan Stanley was the financial adviser for the offerIn a tweet with a link to SEC, the SpaceX CEO simply wrote: ‘I made an offer’ The Twitter board of directors said that it would ‘carefully review the proposal’Last week, Musk backed out of an agreement to join Twitter’s board of directors Musk has amassed over 80 million followers since joining the site in 2009
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Billionaire Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $41.39billion saying it ‘has extraordinary potential’ and ‘I will unlock it’, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday.
Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share represents a 38 percent premium to the closing price of Twitter’s stock on April 1, the last trading day before the Tesla CEO’s over 9 percent investment in the company was publicly announced.
Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing that Musk, who is the company’s biggest shareholder, provided a letter to the company on Wednesday that contained a proposal to buy the remaining shares of Twitter that he doesn’t already own.
Shares of Twitter jumped nearly 12 percent before the market open. The stock is still down from its 52-week high of about $73. Meanwhile, shares of Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer that the SpaceX CEO heads, slipped about 0.9 percent.
In a tweet, the world’s richest man whose net worth is currently $282billion according to Forbes and $100billion richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, simply wrote: ‘I made an offer’.
Outspoken Musk, known for his social media antics, told Bret Taylor, the Chairman of the 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.
Billionaire Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $41.39 billion, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday
In a tweet, the SpaceX CEO simply wrote: ‘I made an offer’
Shares of Twitter jumped nearly 12 percent before the market open. The stock is still down from its 52-week high of about $73
‘As a result, I am offering to buy 100 percent of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54 percent premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38 percent 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 added that his offer was not a ‘threat’, but ‘it’s simply not a good investment without the changes that need to be made.’
He continued: ‘And those changes won’t happen without taking the company private.’
‘The Twitter Board of Directors will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and all Twitter stockholders,’ Twitter said as it confirmed it received Musk’s bid.
He called that price his best and final offer, although the billionaire provided no details on financing. The offer is non-binding and subject to financing and other conditions.
Musk said investment bank Morgan Stanley was the financial adviser for the offer.
The total deal value was calculated based on 763.58million shares outstanding, according to Refinitiv data.
Musk rejected an offer to join Twitter’s board earlier this week after disclosing his stake in the company, a move which analysts said signaled his intention to take over the company as a board seat would have limited his stake to just under 15 percent.
Musk has amassed over 80 million followers since joining the site in 2009 and has used the platform to make several announcements, including teasing a go-private deal for Tesla that landed him in hot water with regulators.
The outspoken Tesla CEO, known for his social media antics, told Bret Taylor, the Chairman of the 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’
Musk added that his offer was not a ‘threat’, but ‘it’s simply not a good investment without the changes that need to be made’
Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that Musk provided a letter to the company on Wednesday that contained a proposal to buy the remaining shares of Twitter that he doesn’t already own
Musk has been a vocal critic of of Twitter in recent weeks, mostly over his belief that it falls short on free speech principles.
The social media platform has angered followers of Donald Trump and other far-right political figures who’ve had their accounts suspended for violating its content standards on violence, hate or harmful misinformation. Musk also has a history of his own tweets causing legal problems.
Musk’s move comes after he tweeted on Saturday asking whether the social media network was ‘dying’ and to call out users such as singer Justin Bieber, who are highly followed but rarely post.
In other weekend tweets, Musk posted joke polls on whether to drop the ‘w’ from Twitter’s name and on converting its San Francisco headquarters to a homeless shelter ‘since no one shows up anyway.’
He also suggested removing ads, Twitter’s main source of revenue.
The second tweet about deleting ‘w’ saw Musk give two options without no as an answer, with 55.8 percent saying ‘yes’ and 44.2 percent ‘of course’ of 445,158 votes to-date
In the first post, Musk seemingly took aim at the company’s lax remote working policies, saying he came up with the plan ‘since no one shows up anyway.’ So far, 91.1 percent of 923,459 respondents voted in favor of the plan
It comes after analysts speculated that Musk‘s roller coaster journey as Twitter‘s largest shareholder could be part of a ploy to stage a hostile take-over of the company.
Musk revealed last week that he had become Twitter’s largest shareholder, with a 9.2 percent stake in the company, on March 14.
One day after he disclosed his stake, platform CEO Parag Agrawal announced the Tesla co-founder had been invited to the join the company’s board of directors, a seat he gladly accepted.
By accepting the board seat, Musk was limited in how much of the company’s shares he could own, with a 14.9 percent cap.
However, on Sunday Parag announced the SpaceX CEO formally declined his board seat.
Musk, 50, signed the new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Monday indicating he had declined his board seat.
One day after he disclosed his stake, platform CEO Parag Agrawal (pictured) announced the Tesla co-founder had been invited to the join the company’s board of directors, a seat he gladly accepted
The document stated Musk could ‘express his views’ about Twitter’s policies and services to the board or on social media. He could also purchase additional shares or sell Twitter stock, if he saw fit.
Agrawal said the board would still ‘remain open’ to Musk’s input, while also warning: ‘There will be distractions ahead but our goals and priorities remain unchanged.’
‘The board and I had many discussions about Elon joining the board, and with Elon directly,’ wrote Agrawal. ‘We were excited to collaborate and clear about the risks.
‘We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward. The board offered him a seat.’
Agrawal continued: ‘We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance.
However, on Sunday Parag announced the SpaceX CEO formally declined his board seat
On April 5, Elon Musk vowed to ‘make significant improvements’ to Twitter after revealing his large stake in the social media platform and intention to join the board of directors
‘Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.’
Agrawal did not specify why Musk was not joining the company’s board.
But, he added: ‘I believe this is for the best.
‘We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our board or not.’
The 37-year-old said: ‘Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.’
‘The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no one else’s.
‘Let’s tune out the noise, and stay focused on the work and what we’re building.’
