Twitter board may possibly accept Elon Musk’s $43 billion buyout offer for the social microblogging platform. An insider said the board met on Sunday to consider the possibility of accepting Musk’s offer, given that no better offer has surfaced since the tech billionaire indicated an interest in acquiring the social media.
Musk said his $43 billion cash offer is his “best and final” offer to buy all Twitter shares at $54.20 per share. Although the board could change course at the last minute, the insider said they are looking forward to recommending a sale to the company’s shareholders on Monday.
Musk revealed he planned to acquire Twitter on April 14 after acquiring a 9% stake in the company. Since he did not initially state how he planned to raise $43 billion, many analysts did not take him seriously until last week when he said he had about $46.5 billion in financing to buy the company. The biggest lenders on Wall Street are backing him to finance the deal through equity and debt.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said his driving force for wanting to acquire Twitter is to promote free speech. He also plans to effect subtle changes such as altering the model of the Blue premium subscription service, banning advertising, adding an Edit button, and integrating dogecoin cryptocurrency as a payment option on social media. He said he will privatize the company to unlock its immense potential.
“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 stated. “However, 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.”
Given that the company’s shares dropped by nearly 10% since Parag Agrawal took over leadership from founder Jack Dorsey in December 2021, tech experts believe selling Twitter to Musk will undermine Agrawal’s ability to make the company more profitable. While the Twitter board tried to sidetrack Musk by offering a poison pill, shareholders applied pressure that Musk’s offer is an opportunity that mustn’t slip away.
Analysts have also likened Musk’s offer to buy Twitter on his own terms to the way billionaire Warren Buffett acquires his investments – making a single huge offer and sticking with it to the end. Twitter and Musk have not responded to requests for comments since news filtered that the board may accept his offer.