Twitter has become a “Musk-have”. Elon Musk has indeed reached an agreement with the board of directors of Twitter to buy the social network at a price of 54.20 dollars per share, which values it at around 44 billion dollars, Twitter announced Monday in a press release. The Tesla boss, who is also ranked the richest man in the world, therefore becomes the owner of the platform which he considers to be “the digital public square where vital subjects for the future of humanity are debated”, according to a quote in the press release. In the afternoon, the action of Twitter had climbed 4% on Wall Street before being suspended pending the announcement of the takeover.
According to wall street journal, representatives of the company and the billionaire met on Sunday to discuss the proposal made by the boss of Tesla, ten days earlier, to buy the social network. Advances would have been confirmed but questions would still have to be settled, before a possible agreement this week, people familiar with the matter told the American newspaper. “Twitter takes a fresh look at the offer and is more likely than before to seek to negotiate”added the latter.
A “fresh look” surprising since it comes after about two weeks of twists and turns since Elon Musk’s takeover proposal. The latter was first fiercely opposed by the company’s board of directors which, on April 15, revealed a defense strategy – known as the “poison pill” – aimed at preventing the boss of SpaceX from getting away with it. seize.
Far from being offended, Elon Musk, known for his troll skills on the social network, announced on Thursday that he had managed to secure nearly 46.5 billion dollars to finance the transaction. In all, 21 billion come from his personal fortune, estimated at 281 billion dollars by the magazine Forbes. Morgan Stanley Bank – also a shareholder with more than 8% in Twitter – has also undertaken to grant him two loans, one of 13 billion dollars and another of 12.5 billion.
Secret encounters
In addition, the boss of Tesla added considering going directly through the shareholders of Twitter to buy back their shares, avoiding the board of directors, without however confirming to have recourse to a hostile takeover bid. According to the sources of wall street journalthe company’s board of directors would have jumped “after Mr. Musk met privately with several shareholders of the company on Friday”.
He “also pledged to find a solution to free speech issues […]whether his offer is accepted or not., it is specified. Elon Musk said he wanted to make Twitter “the platform for freedom of expression in the world”.
Twitter could speak this Thursday, when publishing its first quarter results, or even before, according to these sources, a response that ‘could leave door open to other offers or negotiate with Mr. Musk on terms other than price’.
Update at 9 p.m. with the announcement of the effective takeover.