Musk’s offer of $ 54.20 a share comes just days after he took a 9% stake in the company, making him its largest shareholder but rejecting an invitation to join its board. The move will turn the tech entrepreneur into a new media baron, able to determine the future direction of a platform that has 80 million followers and through which he has sought personal vendettas and promoted his agenda. The businessman announced the offer on Thursday in a deposit to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. In a letter to the company’s board attached to the deposit, Musk said he had invested in the platform, of which he is an enthusiastic user, because he believed in its potential to be “the platform for free speech around the world”. However, he added that since investing, he has now realized that the company “would neither thrive nor serve this social imperative in its current form”. “Twitter needs to be turned into a private company,” he wrote. I made an offer https://t.co/VvreuPMeLu – Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022 Musk said his offer represented a 54 percent premium on the day he began investing in the company and a 38 percent premium by April 1, three days before his share was announced. However, he hinted that he could leave if the deal collapsed. “My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I will have to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” Musk wrote. “Twitter has great potential. I will unlock it. ” Shares rose more than 11 percent in pre-market trading to about $ 51. Twitter said its board “will carefully consider the proposal to determine the course of action it believes is in the best interest of the company and all Twitter shareholders.” The offer comes after a whirlwind of a few days for the company that has shaken its leadership and staff. Musk acquired his stock on March 14 but did not publicly announce his stake until April 4, exceeding the 10-day limit that federal commercial laws require investors to notify the SEC. Following the announcement that Musk had become the largest shareholder in Twitter, the company’s shares rose 27%. A day later, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced that Musk would be joining Twitter’s board. “Through talks with Elon in recent weeks, it has become clear to us that he would give great value to our board,” he said at the time. Musk reversed his course on Monday and said he would not join the board after spending the weekend criticizing the platform and proposing new features in a series of tweets that have since been deleted. A tweet that Musk “liked” on the platform suggested that Elon “became the largest shareholder in Free Speech” and “said he played well and did not speak freely.” The CEO of Tesla had previously used Twitter to announce his intentions to privatize the electric car maker in 2018 in a post that said: “I’m thinking of getting Tesla private for $ 420. Funding has been secured. “ The proposal was abandoned a few weeks later, after discussions with shareholders. Musk and Tesla paid a fine to the Hellenic Capital Market Commission in a settlement, after being accused of securities fraud due to the position. A company lawyer is now being asked to approve any tweets from Musk containing information to Tesla – a decision it is seeking to overturn.
