Billionaire Elon Musk has made another bold move with Twitter, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to buy the company for $54.20 per share.
He filed to buy the company on April 14th, offering to pay cash and valuing Twitter at $43 billion.
“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Elon Musk wrote in the SEC filing. “However, 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.”
The potential hostile takeover follows very quickly on Musk’s initial investment in the social media giant.
Twitter announced on April 4th that Musk had purchased 9.2% of the company, becoming its largest shareholder. Twitter then announced that Musk would be joining the company’s board of directors, but Musk announced shortly afterwards that he had decided not to sit on the board. Members of board of directors cannot own more than 14.9% of the company.
Since Musk had refused to join the board, the world had been eagerly awaiting his next move.
