Elon Musk’s new offer to buy wholly, Twitter, the world’s most influential media assets may appease some of the shareholders who have filed suit against him for not disclosing the stake in a timely manner
Musk, the world’s richest man offered $54.20 a share in cash, valuing the social media company at $41.4 billion.
The offer that is likely to cause a stir in Washington and among Tesla shareholders, some of whom have criticized Musk’s interest in the company as a distraction, is a 38 per cent premium to the price on the eve of Musk’s disclosure 12 days ago that he had accumulated a “passive” 9.2 per cent stake in the company.
Elon Musk became the largest shareholder of Twitter on Monday April 4 when he acquired 9 per cent of the firm. The purchase sent the stock of the media giant soaring, days after he questioned the company’s commitment to free speech and suggesting he might start his own social platform.
His surprise investment set the platform up for a potential political showdown over its efforts to limit harmful content, efforts the firebrand Tesla chief executive has indicated that he sees hastening a turn toward censorship.
.While it was not immediately clear what role Musk plans to play, analysts speculated he may try for an activist restructuring that could change the way Twitter polices its platform as well as who it banishes.
Some insiders worry that Musk may push Twitter in a libertarian direction, away from blocking or restricting accounts that cause social harm, according to people familiar with internal conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive matters.
It would be recalled that days after Twitter banned former president Donald Trump in the wake of the Capitol insurrection, Musk wrote on Twitter that “a lot of people are going to be super unhappy with West Coast high tech as the de facto arbiter of free speech.”
Twitter also had a brush with Nigerian government over the deletion of the twit by President Muhammadu Buhari, prompting a long ban of the media giant before a truce sets in.
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