Not satisfied with becoming Twitter’s biggest shareholder, Elon Musk now wants to be the social network’s sole owner. This Wednesday morning (14), the richest man in the world made a bold proposal to $43 billion to acquire 100% of platform shares.
The offer, which represents the equivalent of US$ 54.20 per share, was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and, according to the billionaire himself, will be paid in full in cash. As he currently owns 9.2% of the shares, that $43 billion would be related to 90.8% of Twitter’s shares.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
Why?
Despite Elon Musk’s recent investment in Twitter, an offer of this size draws anyone’s attention and raises several doubts. The truth is that the executive himself said about the desire to take the social network private — in other words, take the platform off the exchange. But why?
According to the executive, the main motivation for becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder was the hope of helping the platform to become a more democratic environment.
“I invested in Twitter because I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the world and I believe free speech is a social imperative for a functioning democracy,” the billionaire said.
Image: Vasilis Asvestas/Shutterstock
“However, since I made my investment, I have realized that the company will not thrive or meet this social imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be turned into a private company.”
That is, because he believes that the current board does not have the ability to optimize freedom of expression, Elon Musk decided to buy 100% of the company to have enough autonomy to move forward with the changes – although it is not clear what his intentions are in this regard.
Elon Musk’s Ultimatum
The proposal now explains why the executive turned down the post as a member of the Twitter Board. Had he become a director, Musk would have had to limit himself to 14.9% of the company’s roles. In practice, he could never make the current proposal.
But the fact is that the proposal sounded more like an ultimatum. The executive made it clear that the $43 billion for the remaining shares of the social network will be his “best and last offer”. And if it is not accepted, the billionaire will have to reconsider his position as a shareholder.
Photo: Daniel Oberhaus (2018)
It remains to be seen how the offer will be received. In a statement released on Thursday, Twitter said its board would carefully review the proposal to determine the best course for the company and its shareholders.
In short, the future of the social network will be revealed very soon.
