Elon Musk offers to buy 100 percent of Twitter

Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter, saying he is the right person to “unlock” the social media platform’s “extraordinary potential”.

In a surprise announcement made by Musk, the Tesla boss said he would pay $54.20 a share for Twitter, valuing it at about $40bn. It recently emerged that Musk was the biggest shareholder in Twitter after he built up a large stake in the social media firm.

He said that if his offer was not accepted: “I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder”.

A filing with the US financial regulator appeared to show text and/or voice messages from Musk to Twitter’s board, showing that he had raised the idea at the weekend that the business should go private. Musk had been invited to join the board, but Twitter announced on Sunday he had decided against it.

In his filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk said he had invested in Twitter because he believe in the potential of the platform to be free speech around the globe, and for him, 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,” said Musk. 

He further adds that Twitter has extraordinary potential and he will unlock it. However, the board of Twitter said they will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company and all the stockholders.

Elon Musk is the world’s richest man, according to Forbes magazine, with a net worth of $219bn mostly due to his shareholding in electric vehicle maker Tesla. He also leads the aerospace firm SpaceX.

Source: BBC News