The Elon Musk-Twitter Takeover Tale Just Took a Sharp Turn And Here’s Why
Categories: Crypto News US
The last 24 hours in Elon Musk’s journey to acquire Twitter included his admission that he offered $43 billion for a hostile takeover of the social platform, as well as the revelation that he was no longer biggest stakeholder in the company. In the filing, Musk cites what he sees as Twitter’s failure to live it up to its potential as a defender of the First Amendment.
“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 wrote. “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… 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.”
Musk was subsequently bumped out as Twitter’s largest shareholder by asset manager Vanguard Group. They increased its stake in the social platform and now own 82.4 million shares of Twitter. According to a filing and based on stock purchases they made in the first quarter, Vanguard Inc. has disclosed that they now own 10.3 percent of the company’s stock, according to the Wall Street Journal. Vanguard Inc. does not appear to be an activist investor.
Musk’s aforementioned all-cash deal netted out to $54.20 a share, according to Variety. Twitter has not yet commented other than to confirm the bid. Additionally, a federal lawsuit was filed Wednesday by some Twitter shareholders, citing that Musk had not disclosed his stock purchases within the proper time frame, which could have shorted stockholders while enriching Musk.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeting “This is for the best” regarding Musk’s board of director’s seat refusal, and later referenced that there would be “distractions ahead” in his announcement that Musk would not join the board—just days before Musk put in his offer, according to CNBC.News first broke April 4 that Musk had become Twitter’s largest individual shareholder by purchasing 9.14 percent of Twitter’s stock. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO is worth around $250 billion.