Elon Musk Twitter - latest: Twitter boss says company still evaluating Tesla chief’s $43bn bid for platform
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Elon Musk has made a shock offer to buy the entirety of Twitter.
The billionaire said that he did not have confidence in the company’s management and that it needed to undergo changes that could not happen without it being purchased.
He offered over $40 billion for the company, and said that he might sell his existing shareholding if the offer is not accepted.
Mr Musk announced recently that he had bought just under 10 per cent of the company, making him its biggest shareholders. He was offered and initially accepted a seat on its board – before announcing that he would not join after all, prompting speculation over his plans.
Now he has said that he wants to buy the company to protect “free speech” and unlock what he said is the “extraordinary potential” of the social network.
Twitter closes down 1.7 per cent after Musk’s $43bn offer for company
Mr Musk has offered to buy the company for $54.20 a share in cash, with Twitter closing at $45.08 at the end of trading on Thursday.
In the past year the share price of the company has fluctuated from $31.30 to $73.34.
Elon Musk no longer Twitter’s biggest shareholder
The Tesla boss has been displaced by Vanguard Group, which has increased its own stake in the social media platform, as Twitter considers his $43bn offer for the company.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Vanguard increased its Twitter stake to 10.3 per cent on 8 April, which is 82.4m shares. Before the move it had helf 8.4 per cent of Twitter, or 67.2m shares.
Vanguard’s stake in Twitter was worth $3.78bn at the end of trading on Wednesday.
Mr Musk owns 9.2 per cent of Twitter.
Musk releases letter to chairman of the board
ICYMI: Here, from the SEC filings, is the letter that Mr Musk wrote to the chairman of Twitter’s board:
Elon Musk’s Twitter bid a ‘long shot’ says Wall Street Journal
“Shareholders aren’t rallying behind him. The board is preparing to throw up roadblocks. And it isn’t clear that Mr Musk, despite his vast fortune, can come up with the money,” said the newspaper on Thursday.
Elon Musk says ‘utterly indefensible’ for $43bn offer not to be put to vote
The Tesla boss took to Twitter to respond to a tweet by Nick Short of the Claremont Institute saying that the social media platform’s board “wouldn’t the board be acting in direct opposition to the financial interests of their shareholders?”
“Absolutely. It would be utterly indefensible not to put this offer to a shareholder vote. They own the company, not the board of directors,” replied Mr Musk.
From self-proclaimed ‘socialist’ to ‘red pill’ anti-lockdown crusader: What are Elon Musk’s political beliefs?
ICYMI: “I prefer to stay out of politics.” Those were Elon Musk’s words when the tech exec was forced to respond to a claim by Texas governor Greg Abbott that he supported the state’s anti-abortion laws.
If so, Mr Musk has a funny way of showing it. Over his decade-plus of public fame as the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, the South-African-born tycoon has attacked everyone and everything, from Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders through individual regulatory officials to Covid rules, trade unions, and “pronouns”.
Io Dodds has the story.
From self-declared ‘socialist’ to ‘red pill’: What are Elon Musk’s political beliefs?
The Tesla and SpaceX tycoon has donated to both parties and attacked everyone from Joe Biden through Donald Trump to trade unions and ‘pronouns’, but underneath it all there is a consistent ideology, writes Io Dodds
Twitter responds to Elon Musk’s offer to buy entire company
Twitter has responded to Elon Musk’s offer to buy the whole company.
“Twitter, Inc today confirmed it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Elon Musk to acquire all of the Company’s outstanding common stock for $54.20 per share in cash,” it said in the release.
“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.”
Saudi prince, who is major Twitter shareholder, rejects Elon Musk offer to buy company
A Saudi prince, who is major Twitter shareholder, says he will reject Elon Musk’s $43bn offer to buy the company.
Al Waleed bin Talal took to Twitter to say that he was rejecting the entrepreneur’s cash offer for the social media platform because it was too low.
Saudi prince rejects Elon Musk offer to buy Twitter
‘Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it,’ Tesla boss said in letter to Twitter board
White House declines to comment on Musk’s Twitter offer
The White House says it has no comment on Elon Musk’s bid to buy social media platform Twitter. “This is an offer by a private investor,” White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters onboard Air Force One.
Cramer says Twitter board ‘no choice’ but to reject offer
The CNBC financial expert says that the Twitter board has “no choice” but to reject Elon Musk’s offer of $54.20 per shars.
“They have no choice but to reject it,” Cramer said on Squawk on the Street on Thursday.
“If they say, ‘we accept,’ they’re phony. And they’re not phonies.”
And he added that the board could face poitenbtial “personal liability” if the board took the deal, which would value the company at around $43bn.
“This is one of those where they are literally not doing their job, there’s no fiduciary responsibility if they just say, you know what, we take it,” Cramer said.
“There are times when individual directors are opened up for a level of lack of fiduciary that I think crosses the line. This crosses the line.”
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