Tesla CEO Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter, saying the social media platform he has criticized for failing to live up to free speech principles should be turned private.
Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing Thursday that Musk, currently the company’s largest shareholder, has proposed to buy the remaining shares of Twitter he doesn’t already own at $54.20 a share, an offer worth more than $43 billion. Dollars.
Musk called that price his best and last offer, although he did not provide details on financing. The offer is not binding and is subject to financing and other conditions.
“I invested in Twitter because I believe in its potential to be the platform for freedom of expression around the world, and I believe that freedom of expression is a social imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the presentation. “However, since making my investment, I now realize that the company will not prosper or meet this social imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to transform into a private company.”
Musk revealed in regulatory filings in recent weeks that he had been buying shares in near-daily batches beginning January 31, ending up with a stake of around 9%. Only Vanguard Group’s set of mutual funds and ETFs controls more Twitter stock.
–
