Elon Musk wants to take Twitter private, and he’s willing to pay $43 billion to make it happen.
On Thursday, the billionaire filed official documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He’s offering to pay $54.20 a share in cash, a deal he says shareholders will “love.”
Musk’s Twitter saga started earlier this month when a filing showed he purchased 9.2 percent of Twitter in March. He was set to join the social media giant’s board of directors before pulling out.
“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,” Musk says in the most recent filing.
I made an offer https://t.co/VvreuPMeLu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
In a message posted on the platform, Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal provided no specifics on why Musk pulled out but believed the decision was “for the best.”
Musk’s recent filing provides a little more detail for his thought process, doubting how the company currently runs.
“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.”
This is Musk’s only offer, and he states he will not be “playing the back-and-forth game.” He will reconsider his position as a shareholder if the offer isn’t accepted.
Update 14/04/2022 3:25pm ET: Musk appeared at the TED 2022 conference in Vancouver soon after making the news public. He defended his bid, saying people should be able to speak freely.
“This is not a way to sort of make money. My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important,” Musk said.
Image credit: Dan Taylor/Heisenberg Media
Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission via Bloomberg
