Elon Musk said he was pursuing a hostile takeover of Twitter not for financial gain but for the “future of civilization”, saying he had a “Plan B” if his initial $ 41 billion bid failed.
Musk’s plan faces a tough battle, with a Saudi prince who claims to be a major shareholder saying he will vote against the $ 54.20 share offer, insisting it is not “close to the intrinsic value” of the platform. social media.
And the Twitter board, meeting on Thursday afternoon, is considering fighting hostile takeovers with a so-called “poison pill” provision that would prevent Musk from increasing his Twitter share, a source told the Wall Street Journal.
But Musk, speaking at the TED2022 conference in Vancouver on Thursday afternoon, defended his proposal, saying he was motivated to turn Twitter into a bastion of free speech.
“It’s not about economics,” Musk said. “My strong intuitive feeling is that I have a public platform that is trusted to the fullest and most inclusive, important for the future of civilization.”
“The risk of civilization decreases the more we can increase trust in Twitter as a public platform,” he said. “Twitter has become something of a de facto town square, so it’s really important that people have both the reality and the perception that they can speak freely, within the law.”
Asked if there was a “Plan B” if the Twitter board rejected his offer, Musk said “yes”, but declined to give further details, saying he would develop an additional “other time”.
Although regulatory documents show that his offer depends on expected funding, Musk insisted he had the resources to complete the transaction, saying “I have enough assets … I can do it.”
Twitter’s board of directors met Thursday afternoon to discuss Musk’s historic takeover bid, and the company plans to hold a general meeting later in the day to update employees.
Shares of Twitter fluctuated between positive and negative in the volatile afternoon trading, but remained well below Musk’s offer price of $ 54.20 per share, suggesting that markets are skeptical that the deal will be made.
Elon Musk appeared at the TED2022 conference on Thursday, saying he was pursuing a hostile takeover of Twitter not for financial gain but for the “future of civilization”, saying he had a “Plan B” if his original $ 41 billion bid failures.
“My strong intuitive feeling is that I have a public platform that is highly trusted and inclusive, important for the future of civilization,” he said.
Shares of Twitter fell in the noon trading, falling below Wednesday’s closing price to $ 45.76 – well below Musk’s bid, signaling that investors remain skeptical that his takeover bid will succeed
Musk launched an offer in a text message next to the chair on Twitter
According to regulatory documents, Musk launched his takeover offer in a text message to Twitter board chairman Brett Taylor on Wednesday.
The text message read:
As I pointed out this weekend, I believe that the company needs to be private in order to go through the changes that need to be made.
After the last few days of thinking about it, I decided that I wanted to acquire the company and take it private.
Tonight I will send you a letter with an offer, in the morning it will be public.
Are you available to chat?
At the TED conference, Musk outlined his vision for Twitter, saying he believed the source code for the site’s algorithm should be openly shared on GitHub.
“Having a black box algorithm that promotes some things and lowers others is really dangerous,” he said.
He said that permanent bans on the platform should be rare and that the only restrictions on speech should be the legal restrictions imposed by the governments of the countries where Twitter operates.
“A good sign of whether there is freedom of speech is when someone you don’t like is allowed to say something you don’t like. “If that’s the case, then you have freedom of speech,” Musk said
However, he did not answer directly whether he would reinstate former users banned from Twitter, a category that includes especially Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, a Saudi prince, who claims to be one of the “biggest” shareholders on Twitter, said Musk’s proposal was insufficient.
Alwaleed bin Talal made the announcement on Twitter on Thursday morning, writing: “I do not believe that the offer offered by @elonmusk ($ 54.20) is close to the intrinsic value of @Twitter, given the growth prospects. As one of the largest and long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC and I reject this offer. ‘
KHC is a Saudi-based holding company that operates bin Talal. He also shared a 2015 Twitter grab in which he announced that Kingdom KHC had increased its Twitter share to 5.2 percent.
However, regulatory documents show that KHC’s share of Twitter fell below 5 percent in 2016, and it is unclear how much of Talal really owns today.
Musk – whose share of 9.2 percent is the largest of all shareholders – made his sensational offer for the company early Friday.
Twitter’s board of directors will soon meet to discuss Elon Musk’s hostile $ 41.39 billion takeover bid, with the company saying it would “carefully review the proposal.”
The Twitter board will meet on Thursday at 13:00 ET to discuss Musk’s proposal to take the company private, and the company will hold a general meeting to update employees at 17:00, according to CNBC.
Shares of Twitter fell in the lunch trade, falling below the closing price on Wednesday to $ 45.76 – well below the price of Musk’s offer, which signals that investors remain skeptical that his takeover bid will succeed.
According to regulatory documents, Musk launched his offer with a text message to Twitter board chairman Brett Taylor on Wednesday, telling him he was preparing to send a letter with an offer and asking, “Are you available to chat?”
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Tahal rejects Elon Musk’s offer to buy the company in this tweet sent on Friday afternoon
Alwaleed bin Tahal, pictured, previously boasted that he raised his company’s investment group stake to 5.7% in 2015.
The Twitter board will meet Thursday at 1 p.m. ET to discuss Musk’s proposal to make the company private, and the company will hold a general meeting to update employees at 5 p.m. Above is a conference room at Twitter’s headquarters
In a tweet, the CEO of SpaceX simply wrote: “I made an offer”
The US-educated billionaire who lost almost EVERYTHING … who is the cousin of MBS Prince Alualid bin Talal from Saudi Arabia?
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was one of the richest people in the Middle East, but he suffered after a conflict with his cousin, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and lost almost everything.
The 67-year-old is the grandson of the country’s first king and in 2008 was named Time’s one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
His fortune is concentrated in his 95 percent stake in Kingdom Holding Company, which invests in other companies.
He has lived a life of untold riches, claiming to once own a 435-bedroom palace worth $ 39.8 billion, according to Forbes in 2017.
But Prince Alwaleed almost lost everything later that year when he was arrested and MBS seized his $ 2 billion assets held in Saudi Arabia.
The heir to the throne also tried to seize his foreign assets. Alwaleed owns shares in Twitter, Lyft, Citigroup and top hotels, including George V in Paris and Plaza in New York.
DailyMail.com revealed that the Trump administration claims to have struck a deal with MBS, allowing it to confiscate its U.S. assets while the assets remain in the United States.
He was reportedly targeted as part of a major crackdown on corruption in the country.
But the prince was released in January 2018 after reaching an undisclosed financial agreement with the Saudi government after two months in captivity.
He was held with dozens of other billionaires at the luxury Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh until he was released.
Charges against Prince Alwaleed include money laundering, bribery and extortion, a Saudi official told Reuters.
It is not yet clear what he will have to pay to be released, but officials have previously ordered him to pay at least $ 6 billion.
Prince Alwaleed was born in Jeddah as the son of Saudi Arabia’s finance minister. But his parents separated when he was seven, and he stayed with his mother in Lebanon while his father was in exile.
He studied at Pinewood College in Beirut before being sent to King Abdulaziz’s Military Academy in Riyadh.
Until 1979, he moved to the United States to study business administration at Menlo College in California, graduating in two and a half years and graduating.
He remained in the United States and continued to receive a master’s degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at the University of Syracuse in 1985.
After university, he returned to the Middle East, where he bought a number of banks and quickly amassed wealth.
He continued to expand his business abroad – and in 1997 was Apple’s largest shareholder with a 5% stake.
Other notable companies in which he invested were Planet Hollywood (16% stake in 1998), Coca Cola and Ford.
Elsewhere, he also made a name for himself by donating $ 10 million to then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
He then said: “In moments like this, we need to look at some of the problems that led to such a criminal attack.
“I believe that the United States government needs to review its policy in the Middle East and take a more balanced stance on the Palestinian cause.”
Prince Alualid owns one of the largest yachts in the world, the 282-foot Kingdom 5KR.
It was presented with a previous owner as the villain’s boat in the James Bond movie “Never Say Never Again” and was later owned by Donald Trump.
It has three scattered palaces, with its main residence in the center of Riyadh, with one of the houses …
Add Comment