Tesla CEO Elon Musk has offered to buy 100 percent of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash.Musk stated in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that Twitter has " extraordinary potential" and he wants to unlock it.
"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," Musk said.
The reports of Musk offering to buy Twitter come a day after he had turned down the offer of becoming a board member at Twitter. CEO Parag Agrawal, who had welcomed Musk to the board, had announced Musk's decision not to take up the offer. Agrawal had stated that Musk would bring "significant improvements" to the company in the coming months. Agrawal had also called Musk a "passionate believer and intense critic of the service", something that the company wanted for a long time.
It came as a shocker when Musk refused to join the board five days after a much publicized welcome by Agrawal on Twitter. The Twitter CEO did not reveal the exact cause behind Musk not joining the board but said that Musk would remain their biggest shareholder and the company would always be open to his input.
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