Featured Image Credit: Credit: Alamy
Topics: Elon Musk, Technology
Cameron Frew
Elon Musk has offered to buy all of Twitter for a huge sum of money.
It comes after the Tesla and SpaceX chief became the social media firm's largest single stakeholder with a 9.2 percent stake.
Musk's place in Twitter has been the subject of constant speculation: he's been polling on the addition of an edit button; his holdings were initially described as a 'passive' stake; and he was set to join the board of directors until a last-minute change of heart.
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According to a new regulatory filing, as per Sky News, Musk has offered to buy the whole company for $41.39 billion (£31bn).
Musk's offer stands at $54.20 (£41) per share, marking a 38% premium to Twitter's closing price on 1 April - the last trading day before his stake was publicly disclosed.
In a letter to Twitter chairman Bret Taylor, Musk said: "Since making my investment I now realise the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.
"Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder."
This reframes his decision to not join Twitter's board, which would have prevented him from increasing his stake beyond 14.9%.
In a statement, chief executive Parag Agrawal said: "Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.
"I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input."
Musk is facing a lawsuit from former Twitter shareholders over his acquisition, specifically taking issue with him failing to notify the federal commission of his stake passing five percent.
In theory, this allowed him to keep the stock price low while buying up shares at a lower price, while keeping other shareholders out of the loop.
When Musk disclosed his stake, Twitter's share price rose from $39.31 (£30) to $49.97 (£38). The shareholders allege this allowed Musk to buy up more shares at the lower price, while causing others to sell their shares at 'artificially deflated' prices.
They have accused Musk of 'materially false and misleading statements and omissions'.
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