Elon Musk aiming for Twitter takeover with $43 billion offer after rejecting board seat

Elon Musk acquired a 9.2% stake in Twitter and became its largest shareholder, and this was revealed on April 4. Subsequently, he was offered a seat on the company’s board, and his appointment was supposed to take effect on April 9, but Musk decided to decline the offer at the last minute.

In breaking news that was reported on Thursday, April 14, the 50-year-old billionaire was said to have offered to buy the entire Twitter instead. He placed a bid for an acquisition deal worth $54.20 per share, which is equivalent to around $43 billion.

According to CNBC, Elon Musk said that he made the offer to buy the said social media platform because it “needs to be transformed as a private company.” In a letter that was sent to Twitter chairman, Bret Taylor, and disclosed in a securities filing, he said that he “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.”

But Musk said he now realized that Twitter would neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Thus he thinks it needs to be transformed into a privately owned company. For this, he is offering to acquire it 100% and will be paying in cash. The Tesla founder added that the $54.20 per share price is his best and final offer.

Musk further said that if Twitter will not accept his best offer, he would need to reconsider his position as a shareholder. On Wednesday. the social media platform’s shares increased 12% in premarket trading after closing at $45.85 per share.

Meanwhile, Fox Business reported that Elon Musk admitted he is not sure if he will be able to buy 100% of Twitter but revealed he has a “Plan B” in case Twitter rejects his best offer. He shared this via an interview on Thursday, April 14, via TED2022 in Vancouver. Then again, he declined to say more about what his Plan B is.