Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter for about $41 billion through a takeover bid, just days after turning down a seat on the social media company’s board of directors.

SpaceX founder said he is the right person to “unlock the extraordinary potential” of the platform. In a surprise announcement, Musk indicated he would pay $54.20 per share, bringing the firm’s value to $41 billion.

Musk sent a letter to Bret Taylor expressing that since he made his investment, he realized that the company will not prosper or serve this social imperative in its current form. And that Twitter must transform. Being this his best and last offer, and if it is not accepted, he would have to reconsider his position as a shareholder.

However, Twiter’s board voted unanimously to adopt what is called a poison pill. In other words, they adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan which states that if any person or group acquires beneficial ownership of at least 15% of Twitter’s outstanding common stock without the board’s approval, other shareholders will be allowed to purchase additional shares at a discount.

A takeover bid is considered hostile when one company tries to acquire another against the wishes of that company’s management – in Twitter’s case, its executive board.

For this reason, the board detailed its defense plan to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and put out a statement saying it was needed because of Elon Musk’s “unsolicited, non-binding proposal to acquire Twitter”.

Meanwhile, Tesla magnate said at the TED2022 conference in Vancouver: “I am not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it.” He added that he does have a “plan B”, though he did not say much about it.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com