KUCHING, 15th April : Billionaire Elon Musk has put forward a $41 billion cash takeover offer on Twitter just days after rejecting a seat on the social media company’s board.
Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share, revealed in a regulatory filing on Thursday (April 14), is a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing on April 1, the final trading day before the Tesla CEO’s more than 9% holding in the business was made public.
Twitter’s stock increased by 12% in premarket trading.
“Since making my investment I now realise the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed into a private company,” Musk said in a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor.
“My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” Musk said.
Earlier this week, Musk said he will not be joining the board of directors of Twitter, just before his tenure was due to begin.
Taking a seat on the board of directors would have prohibited him from attempting to take over the company.
Since joining the site in 2009, Musk has acquired over 80 million followers and has used the platform to make various announcements, including teasing a Tesla go-private deal that got him in hot water with regulators. – TVS
