Billionaire Elon Musk has been on a roll in recent weeks making drastic bold moves such as when he became the majority shareholder of Twitter after having bought a 9.2% stake in the social media platform.
Having become the majority shareholder, Musk was offered a seat on the table of the board of the company and from initial reports, he seemed likely to take on the position but later chose not to. Through the company CEO, Parag Agrawal, the team announced that Mr. Musk would not be taking on the role of the board member.
Mr Musk’s appointment was due to become effective on Saturday after revealing last week that he had bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter, however, Mr Agrawal tweeted: “Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.”
Mr Agrawal’s tweet read:
“Elon has decided not to join our board. I sent a brief note to the company, sharing it with you all here.
“Elon Musk decided not to join the Twitter Board. We were excited by the opportunity to collaborate and clear about the risks. We believed the best path forward was having Elon as a fiduciary of Twitter where he, like all board members, must act in the best interests of our company and our shareholders. The board offered him a seat (contingent on a background check and formal acceptance).
The effective date was 4/9, but the same day Elon shared that he will no longer be joining. I believe this is for the best. We will always value input from shareholders and remain open to his. Our goals and priorities are unchanged. Let’s tune out the noise and stay focused on what we’re building.”
There are other hints in Mr Agrawal’s statement. He said Mr Musk was offered a position on the board – where he would have had to behave in the interests of shareholders. But it seems this didn’t sit well with Elon who has other plans for the platform.
As the tech community was still trying to digest the information of Elon becoming Twitter’s majority shareholder and being offered a board position, it is now coming to light that the mutil billionaire has offered to purchase Twitter 100%.
To some, this could be both a good and bad thing but tech analyst, Lawrence Kisuuki believes that Musk buying 100% of the company could be good for the social media platform. ” I am in support of him. Whatever he touches becomes more efficient and better,” he said.
Elon Musk offers $40 billion in a bid to take over Twitter
Musk is offering to “acquire all of the outstanding Common Stock of the Issuer not owned by the Reporting Person for all cash consideration valuing the Common Stock at $54.20 per share.” The proposal was delivered in a letter to Twitter on April 13th. Musk says Twitter needs to go private to go through the changes that need to be made.
“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,” said Musk in a letter sent to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor. “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”
To his many desired changes, the Tesla chief suggested changes to the Twitter Blue premium subscription service, including slashing its price, banning advertising and giving the option to pay in the cryptocurrency dogecoin.
Elon Musk has offered to buy each share at $54.20 which is considered a good offer considering the market valuation of each share at the moment is $46.35. And he is offering to pay off the company shares in cash.
“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 statement.
However, his bid to take over may not go as planned after Vanguard Group recently upped its stake in the social media platform, taking Mr. Musk out of the top spot of shareholders. Vanguard disclosed on April 8 that it now owns 82.4 million shares of Twitter, or 10.3% of the company, according to the most recent publicly available filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The firm often sides with management on voting issues and doesn’t advocate for changes like a hedge fund or activist investor might.
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Author: Moses Echodu
Moses is an avid Sports and Tech enthusiast. He loves to keep up to date with all the latest information and research on some of the most compelling stories.
