Elon Musk has made an official offer to buy Twitter (TWTR) for $54.20 U.S. per share, saying
the social media company can be transformed once taken private.
The bid to buy Twitter and take it private comes little more than a week after it was disclosed
that Musk had taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter worth nearly $3 billion U.S, and become the social
media company’s largest shareholder.
Musk, who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA), was
subsequently invited to join Twitter’s board of directors but declined to do so. Now, Musk has
made an offer to buy all of Twitter and take the company private.
Here is a full copy of a letter that Musk sent to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor, which has been
disclosed in a regulatory filing:
“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.
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.
As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium
over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before my
investment was publicly announced. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I
would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.
Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.” – Elon Musk
Twitter stock rose 11% to $50.80 U.S. per share in premarket trading on news that Musk has
offered to buy the company.
