Elon Musk is sort of becoming like billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn.
The Tesla CEO, who has a 9.2% stake in Twitter, offered to buy the social media platform for $54.20 a share on Thursday.
Here is what Musk wrote in a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor, as disclosed in a new SEC 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.”
Twitter shares (TWTR) surged 13% in pre-market trading.
Twitter confirmed in a press release that it received Musk’s offer and said the board of directors “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.”
“It would be hard for any other bidders/consortium to emerge and the Twitter board will be forced likely to accept this bid and/or run an active process to sell Twitter,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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