From DailyMail.co.uk…
Billionaire Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for $41.39billion, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday.
Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share represents a 38 percent premium to the closing price of Twitter’s stock on April 1, the last trading day before the Tesla CEO’s over 9 percent investment in the company was publicly announced. It even appeared to reference marijuana – also known as 420 – a common reference used by Musk on Twitter.
Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that Musk, who is the company’s biggest shareholder, provided a letter to the company on Wednesday that contained a proposal to buy the remaining shares of Twitter that he doesn’t already own.
The firm’s board says it will now consider the offer – although Musk could ultimately overrule any decision they make, if shareholders decide to take up his proposal.
The outspoken SpaceX CEO, known for his social media antics, told Bret Taylor, the 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.’
Twitter confirmed on Thursday that it had received the offer, saying in a statement: ‘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.’
The social media giant will review the offer with advice from Goldman Sachs and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
If Twitter were to reject Musk’s bid, which analysts argue it cannot afford to do, the billionaire may target stockholders by either seeking proxy votes or purchasing their shares.
Here, DailyMail.com looks at what could happen next – and how Musk could be helped, or hindered, in his bid to buy his favorite social media network…
