Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk on Wednesday offered to buy social media platform Twitter for $43.4 billion, or over Rs 3.31 lakh crore. Musk has offered $54.20, or more than Rs 4,136, per share in his takeover bid for the social media platform.
On April 4, Musk had bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter, which made him the biggest shareholder in the company. The Tesla chief, however, decided not to join the board of directors of the social media platform.
In his filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk said that if his offer was not accepted, he would need to reconsider his position as a shareholder.
“This is not a threat, it’s simply not a good investment without the changes that need to be made,” He said. “And those changes won’t happen without taking the company private.”
The US-based entrepreneur said that he was not playing the negotiation game and that it was his final offer.
“It’s a high price and your shareholders will love it.”
Twitter’s board has said that it will review Musk’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing, calling it an “unsolicited non-binding offer”, AFP reported. The board said it will decide its next steps in the “best interest of the company and all Twitter stockholders”.
Musk said he believes Twitter has the potential to be a platform for free speech.
“However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form,” the entrepreneur said.
He added: “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”
Musk owns 7.35 crore shares in Twitter, which amounts to stakes worth $2.9 billion, or about Rs 21,846 crore, in the company, according to filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Tesla chief’s stakes in Twitter is over four times more than that of Jack Dorsey, the social media platform’s founder. Musk is active on Twitter and has more than eight crore followers on the platform.
Musk had earlier said that he was looking forward to working with Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal and the board of directors to make significant improvements to the platform in the coming months.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!