In an updated 13D filed with the SEC on Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk makes his “best and final” offer to buy 100 percent of Twitter. He’s making a cash offer of $54.20 per share.
Musk, of course, had to slip a “420” into the offer.
According to Bloomberg, Musk’s net worth is around $260 billion. Twitter’s market capitalization is estimated to be around $37 billion. According to CNBC, Musk’s offer values Twitter at around $43 billion.
Musk is offering to “acquire all of the Issuer’s outstanding Common Stock not owned by the Reporting Person for all cash consideration valued at $54.20 per share.” On April 13th, the proposal was delivered to Twitter in the form of a letter. Musk claims that Twitter must go private in order to make the necessary changes.
“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,” said Musk in a letter sent to Twitter chairman Bret Taylor. “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”
“I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” says Musk if his offer is not accepted.
Twitter confirmed the offer in a press release, saying that “the Twitter Board of Directors will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the Company and all Twitter stockholders.”
The board is expected to meet at 10 a.m. ET to discuss the offer, though it is unclear whether a decision will be made.
Twitter’s stock is up more than 13% in pre-market trading as a result of the news. Tesla stock is down 1.5 percent on concerns that Twitter’s number one fan — who already leads Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink — will be distracted by his new pet. Musk once told Twitter co-founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey that running two companies at the same time is a bad idea.
Will he or will he not buy? The Twitter saga began in earnest ten days ago, when it was revealed that the world’s richest man had purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the company. Soon after, Twitter announced that Musk would be appointed to its board of directors, only for that to fall through a few days later, prompting Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to warn employees that “there will be distractions ahead.”
A hostile takeover will undoubtedly be distracting for all parties involved.
According to the SEC filing, the following is the full text of Musk’s letter to Twitter:
Bret Taylor
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.
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.
Elon Musk