Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter outright for $43 billion, saying that the company needs to be made private in order to grow.
Driving the news: Musk said in a tweet Thursday that he has offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, which is 38% higher than where shares closed on April 1.
What he said: “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 said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- “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 said.
Flashback: Musk already bought a 9.2% stake in the company, becoming Twitter’s largest stakeholder in recent weeks, as I reported for the Deseret News.
- Earlier this week, Musk said he would not join Twitter’s board of directors, despite reports that he would join the board. This opened up the possibility that Musk would attempt to buy Twitter.
The fallout: Twitter’s shares jumped more than 6% in premarket trading after the announcement, per CNBC. Shares were valued at $45.85 per share on Wednesday.
Worth noting: A group of Twitter shareholders are planning to sue Musk for allegedly failing to disclose how much stake he bought in Twitter by the appropriate time, per CNBC.