Twitter Confirms Receipt Of Unsolicited, Non-Binding Proposal From Elon Musk

Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter outright in a deal that values the company at $43 billion, a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed Thursday, April 14, 2022, Isobel Asher Hamilton reported for Business Insider.

Photo Insert: Elon Musk, had suggested a raft of changes to Twitter since having become its biggest shareholder.

"Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it," Musk said in a letter to Twitter chairman Bret Taylor, dated Wednesday, according to the filing. Musk said his $54.20-per-share offer was his "best and final." Twitter's stock jumped 12% pre-market.

Musk has offered to buy all the Twitter stock he doesn't own for $54.20 per share in cash. The offer represents a premium of 54% above the stock's closing price on January 28, the day before Musk began buying into Twitter, and 38% above the closing price on April 1, the day before Musk unveiled his 9.2% stake in the company, according to the SEC filing.

Twitter said Thursday it had received "an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Elon Musk to acquire all of the company's outstanding common stock" and would "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."

Musk is presently Twitter's largest stockholder, having disclosed in early April that he'd amassed a 9.2% stake in the company. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO is also the world's richest person, with a fortune estimated at $259 billion.

Per the SEC filing, in his letter to Taylor, Musk hinted that he might sell his Twitter stock if his takeover offer was snubbed. "My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder," he wrote.

He told Taylor: "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 is reportedly keen on conducting a race of toy cars on Mars, if he could survive the hostile environment of the desolate planet. As for free speech, he defines it the way the discredited Donald Trump does: Unbridled and uncouth.

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