Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $43B

Elon Musk is offering to buy Twitter for $43 billion just days after news broke that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO would not join the social media giant’s board of directors.

Musk, in a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor disclosed in an Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday, said he would purchase the company in its entirety for $54.20 a share, which, according to CNBC, gives Twitter a value of $43 billion.

That offer is a 54 percent premium above the price for Twitter shares on the day before Musk started investing in the company and an 8 percent premium above it the day before his investment was publicly announced.

Musk, the largest shareholder of Twitter, owns a little more than 9 percent of the company, according to The Associated Press.

“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,” Musk wrote in the letter.

The billionaire also said Twitter should become a private company.

“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,” Musk wrote in the letter.

“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,” he added.

Musk characterized his proposal as his “best and final offer” and said he would “need to reconsider my position as a shareholder” if it is not accepted.

He added that the social media company “has extraordinary potential,” adding, “I will unlock it.”

Twitter confirmed in a statement on Thursday that it has received the “unsolicited, non-binding proposal” from Musk.

The company added that its 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.”

Musk’s offer to buy Twitter comes days after he reversed a decision to join the company’s board of directors. Twitter announced on April 5 that the company would appoint Musk to its board, but on Sunday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said Musk “decided not to join our board.”

Earlier this month, Musk drew headlines when he shared his suggestions for changes to Twitter Blue, the company’s subscription service. He also tweeted a poll asking his Twitter followers “Do you want an edit button?” one day before the company announced that it was testing the feature.

Twitter, however, said the company had been testing the feature since last year and did not get the idea from a poll.