Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share and filed the papers to do it.
A series of text messages and voicemails to Twitter’s board, showed the unusual way Muck went about telling them of his intentions.
In the documents, filed under “script,” is a text message from Musk, hours before he announced his offer publicly – addressed to what appeared to be Twitter’s chairman, Bret Taylor.
“After the past several days of thinking this over, I have decided I want to acquire the company and take it private,” Musk’s text message says.
“I am going to send you an offer letter tonight, it will be public in the morning,” the message adds. “Are you available to chat?”
In the voice message, Musk notes the bid is his “best and final” offer to buy Twitter.
“I am not playing the back-and-forth game,” Musk said. “I have moved straight to the end. It’s a high price and your shareholders will love it. If the deal doesn’t work, given that I don’t have confidence in management nor do I believe I can drive the necessary change in the public market, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.”
“This is not a threat, it’s simply not a good investment without the changes that need to be made. And those changes won’t happen without taking the company private,” Musk added.
Musk encouraged the Twitter director to contact his team with any questions about his offer, coming after the board had received his formal letter about the bid.
“After you receive the letter and review the public filings, your team can call my family office with any questions,” Musk said.
Twitter’s board confirmed receipt of Musk’s bid and said it would “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 full letter to the board from Musk is as below:
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.
/s/ Elon Musk
Wow, Elon Musk is a true free enterpriser.
Great to have the richest man in the world recognizing
that free speech is essential in a democratic world.
Thank you
I am beyond thrilled that Elon Musk is prepared to open Twitter to free speech and allow free thinkers to express their thoughts. I await the changes!
Free speech is essential for true free democracy. MUSK WILL OPEN THE door way without blocking conservative free speech. NO bias filter and false fact checking. I truely wish this offer is excepted
free speech is a GOD given thing for all of us , we have always used it for communication through out our lives & should never be stopped by anyone , it’s always been a democratic way of exspressing our selves of how we really feel & should never be taken away musk has the best plan in the world lets join him in his request to do something positive with this company let them hear our voices ! we need free speech , go for it musk we are behind u
As the day went on the shareholders are ready to implement a poison pill to keep him from buying Twitter
Nine kids richest in the world he’s got his priorities straight
Elon Musk is determined to make America a country of “free speech” without any political corruptions.
Go for it Elon shut the lying fools down and let the truth be public knowledge
We Tweeter have a problem, we want to keep people hidden and quiet, so we can run our Socialist Program and keep corrupting FBI and CIA and Congress in USA and the public shouldn’t know it, until is to late.