According to sources, the 11-member Twitter board met on Sunday to discuss entrepreneur Elon Musk's $43 billion acquisition offer for the social media business.
According to those familiar with the situation, Musk "wooed several of the social media company's stockholders with financial specifics on his $43 billion buyout offer." According to Reuters, "the company's decision to negotiate with Musk… does not mean it will accept his $54.20 per share bid." "However, it indicates that Twitter is currently examining whether a sale of the firm to Musk on favorable terms is viable."
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According to The New York Times, the situation "remains fluid and fast-moving." The dispute could potentially come down to the bid price, according to the article. Musk's offer was a big premium to the company's stock price at the end of January, but it still represented a significant discount to the shares' valuation of more than $60 per share for much of last year.
Twitter has been contacted by Variety for comment.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk owns more than 9% of Twitter. According to a regulatory filing, he has put together a $46.5 billion financial package for his bid, comprising of his personal assets and the help of Morgan Stanley and other corporations. This comprises $13 billion in debt funding and $12.5 billion in loans secured against his Tesla stock, with Musk likely to contribute $21 billion in equity financing.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the world's richest man, suggested a hostile takeover of Twitter for $43 billion on April 14, offering $54.20 per share for the social media firm. To ward off a potential hostile takeover, Twitter implemented a "poison pill" strategy the next day, aiming to prevent any individual or corporation from collecting more than a 15% ownership in the company by buying shares on the open market.
Musk, who has a Twitter following of 83.2 million, said on Sunday that he was "moving on" from mocking Gates for shorting Tesla while claiming to support climate change action.
