Billionaire Elon Musk has a big offer for Twitter .
Musk proposed paying $54.20 for each share of the influential social media company, an offer …
Billionaire Elon Musk has a big offer for Twitter. Musk proposed paying $54.20 for each share of the influential social media company, an offer that values Twitter at $43 billion. The entrepreneur, who runs Tesla, SpaceX and other companies, already owns more than 9% of Twitter. « I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve [its] societal imperative in its current form, » Musk wrote in a letter to Bret Taylor, chairman of Twitter’s board of directors. « Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it. » The offer, which Musk called his « best and final, » underscores the roller-coaster relationship between the tech mogul and Twitter since he revealed his stake in early April. Musk is one of the social media company’s largest shareholders. He then turned down a seat on Twitter’s board of directors, fueling speculation that Musk would engage in a hostile takeover of the company. Here’s what you need to know about the ongoing saga between Twitter and Musk: Musk, who has 81 million followers on Twitter, is an avid user of the service but also one of its loudest critics. Musk tweeted a poll to his followers in March that asked whether users believed Twitter was protecting free speech. He said the poll results, in which roughly 70% of 2 million respondents answered « no, » would be « very important. » The First Amendment applies to the government censoring speech but not to companies such as Twitter, which have their own rules about what isn’t allowed on the site. « Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done? » he said in a follow-up tweet. In his letter to Taylor, Musk said he invested in Twitter because he believes « in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe. » To accomplish his goal, Musk thinks the public company needs to go private. Twitter said in a press release it’s received the offer and the board will « carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company and all Twitter stockholders.
