Twitter needs to be privatized to become a platform for free speech globally, Elon Musk said in a letter to Twitter’s President.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter outright in a deal valued at $43 billion.
Musk proposed buying all of the Twitter shares he doesn’t own for $54.20 per share, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 14. He is currently Twitter’s largest shareholder, holding 9.2% of the company’s shares.
A day after he disclosed his stake (April 5), Twitter announced Musk had been appointed to the company’s board. However, five days later, he said he had turned down the position. When he joins the board, Musk’s stock ownership will be capped at 14.9%, preventing him from buying the company.
Here’s the text of Musk’s letter to Twitter chairman Bret Taylor on April 13, outlining an offer to buy Twitter, according to SEC filings:
Bret Taylor,
Twitter Board of Directors,
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.
Before closing time on May 14, Twitter’s shares were trading at $45.85/share. In a letter to his employees, the Twitter CEO said the company’s board is reviewing Elon Musk’s offer.
