Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $41 bn in cash

New York, April 14

Elon Musk took aim at Twitter with a $41 billion cash offer on Thursday, prompting a spike in shares of the social media giant, which the Tesla CEO said needs to be taken private to grow and become a platform for free speech. “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it,” Musk said in a letter to Twitter’s Board on Wednesday, which was made public in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Shares of Twitter zoom 12%

• Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s April 1 close, the last trading day before the Tesla chief executive’s stake of more than 9% in the social media platform was made public
• He rejected the offer to join Twitter Board, a move which analysts said signalled his intention to buy the company 
• Shares in Twitter jumped 12% in premarket trading, while those of Tesla fell about 1%

Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s April 1 close, the last trading day before the Tesla chief executive’s stake of more than 9% in the social media platform was made public.

Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder. —Elon Musk, Tesla CEO

Advertisement

The billionaire rejected an offer to join Twitter’s Board this week after disclosing his stake, a move which analysts said signalled his intention to take over the company as a Board seat would have limited his stake to just under 15%. — Reuters