Elon Musk has made an offer to buy Twitter. The Tesla CEO, who recently became the social media platform’s largest shareholder, has proposed purchasing the company at $54.20/share. Musk says the social media platform should be transformed into a private company.
Musk already has a 9.2% stake in Twitter, which amounts to 73,486,938 shares in the company. Many expected him to join the company’s board after becoming its largest shareholder, but Musk decided against it. In the past, he has criticized the platform for censoring high-profile conservatives including former President Donald Trump. He has also recently asked followers on social media for their feedback on changes he’d like to see made by the platform including the addition of an edit button.
In an SEC filing, Musk wrote that he invested in Twitter because he believes in the potential of the platform.
“I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk wrote. “However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.”
Musk made it known in his letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor that if the company isn’t interested in his offer he will need to reconsider his position as shareholder. According to Bloomberg, Musk is worth roughly 260 billion dollars. Twitter’s market valuation is near $37 billion. CNBC says Musk’s offer elevates the social media company’s overall value to about $43 billion.
More on this story as it develops.
