Elon Musk made an offer to buy Twitter outright on Thursday, saying that his offer of $41.39 billion is necessary to ensure free speech on Twitter.
On Thursday, Musk tweeted the following:
Will endeavor to keep as many shareholders in privatized Twitter as allowed by law
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
His offer was rejected, though.
Not only was his offer rejected, but another deep-pocketed entity rose up to defeat Musk entirely when Vanguard Group upped its stake and announced that same day that it now controls 10.3 percent of Twitter’s stock to Musk’s 9.2 percent.
Thus far, Musk claims that his investment in Twitter is based on principle.
“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,” he said in a letter to Twitter chairman Bret Taylor.
“Since making my investment I now realise the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.
“Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”
“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 added.
He said “this is not a threat, it’s simply not a good investment without the changes that need to be made”.
He said he does not have “confidence in management” and does not believe he can “drive the necessary change” while the company is still public.
Still, some wonder if Musk is attempting a “pump and dump” scheme by trying to do things in public that might send Twitter’s stock price on the rise so that he can then sell at a profit.
Only time will tell if his claims of worrying about free speech are real.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston
Tags: Commentary Elon Musk free speech Twitter
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