Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter (TWTR.N) at $41 billion.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Tesla CEO and billionaire entrepreneur said the social media giant needs to be taken private to grow and become a platform for free speech
In a letter to Twitter’s board on Wednesday, Musk, who is already the company’s second-largest shareholder, said “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”
The offer was made public in a regulatory filing on Thursday.
His offer price of $54.20 per share represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s April 1 close, the last trading day before his 9.1% stake in the social media platform was made public.
Gatekeepers News earlier reported that the Tesla CEO rejected an invitation to join Twitter’s board this week after disclosing his stake. Analyst had signaled his takeover intentions as a board seat, adding that this would have limited his shareholding to just under 15%.
Musk told Twitter it was his best and final offer stating that he would reconsider his investment if the board rejects it.
“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,” Musk said in his letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor.
A source noted that Twitter will review the offer with advice from Goldman Sachs and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
