Tesla CEO Elon Musk Offers To Buy Twitter For $43 Billion!
Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share in a filing last Thursday. The offer values Twitter at about $43 billion. The Tesla CEO said the social network needs to be transformed privately. This offer came a week after Musk bought a 9.1% stake in the company, becoming its largest outside shareholder for a time.
"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 in a letter sent to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor and disclosed in a securities filing.
READ: Elon Musk Says Production Of Tesla's Robot Could Start Next Year
The social media company needs to go private because it can "neither thrive nor serve" free speech in its current state, he explained.
"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," he wrote. "My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder."
During a talk at TED2022, Musk claimed that he isn't interested in acquiring Twitter to make money off it and even said he's not sure if he'll even be able to buy the company.
"This is not a way to sort of make money... it's just that I think my strong, intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive, is extremely important to the future of civilization," Musk said at TED2022. "But yeah, I don't care about the economics at all."
He also added during the talk that he would try to retain as many shareholders as possible for a private company. The news comes just days after Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal warned investors of potential "distractions ahead."
READ: SpaceX Successfully Escorted First All-private Crew To ISS Space Station For Axiom Space
"The Twitter Board of Directors will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and all Twitter stockholders," the company said in a statement Thursday in response to the offer.
On "Squawk on the Street", CNBC's David Faber reported that Twitter's board will meet at 10 a.m. to evaluate the bid, per people familiar.
