America’s giant electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk has bought micro-blogging site Twitter Inc. On April 14, Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for $ 54.20 per share. At this rate, the worth of Twitter was becoming $ 41 billion. Musk’s offer came after he bought a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter. Musk’s offer was opposed by many Twitter shareholders. Musk later increased the purchase amount to $46.5 billion.
Musk said he would increase his stake by buying shares from the open market if the deal did not materialise, after protests erupted on Twitter. To stop Musk, Twitter had also approved a shareholder rights plan. Shareholders were skeptical about Musk’s proposal. Finally, after 13 days, Musk was able to buy Twitter.
Saudi prince stuck
Musk’s offer was turned down by Saudi’s Prince Al Waled bin Talal Al Saud, a major Twitter investor. He had said, “I don’t think the offer is close to its true value.”
existing shareholders
Bought 9.2 stake yet dropped from board
Musk bought a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter this month. Then he became the largest shareholder of Twitter. After this he was invited to join the board of Twitter. Musk was supposed to join the board on April 9, but he turned down the same morning.
profitable deal
Musk bought Twitter for $54.20 per share. Even at this price, it has been a profitable deal for Musk. Twitter’s stock hit a 52-week high of $73.34 per unit. Accordingly, this purchase of Musk has been cheap at $ 19.14 per share.
questioned free expression
Musk’s response
Musk made a tweet on Monday evening. He wrote, I hope my fiercest critics remain on Twitter. That’s what my free expression means.