Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and the wealthiest person in the world, is attempting to take his fascination with the social media platform Twitter to another level. Musk recently made public his offer to buy Twitter for $40+ billion at $54.20 per share.
Twitter is Musk’s social media of choice and he frequently engages with his followers and shares his thoughts on current events there. On top of that, he already owns just over 9% of the company’s shares.
Musk made a bid for Twitter after recently rejecting to take a seat on its board. He was offered the seat under the condition that he doesn’t increase his stake in the company by more than 15% until at least 2024.
In his regulatory filing, Musk explained that he believes Twitter should be a private company for its potential to be unlocked. He added that he would “reconsider” his position as Twitter’s shareholder if his offer was not accepted.
“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.
In their response to the attempted takeover, Twitter adopted the “poison pill” measurement. This means that Twitter shareholders not named Musk will be able to acquire more shares at a modest price. The poison pill will become active if Musk or any other shareholder raises its stake above 15%.
