Of Course Elon Musk Is Flexing With A Multibillion-Dollar Cash Offer To Buy Twitter While Vowing To ‘Unlock’ Its ‘Potential’

Welp, it finally happened. Elon Musk is trying to buy Twitter. After the Tesla CEO rejected an offer to join the social media company’s board of directors, analysts predicted he was laying the groundwork for a hostile takeover. That day has arrived. Musk has offered Twitter a $41 billion cash offer along with a plan to take the company private.

“Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it,” Musk said in a letter to the company’s board. Via Reuters:

Musk, who calls himself a free-speech absolutist, has been critical of the social media platform and its policies, and recently ran a poll on Twitter asking users if they believed it adheres to the principle of free speech.

“My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” Musk added.

Musk’s offer arrives after a week of messiness. Following Twitter announcing that Musk rejected the company’s offer to join the board of directors, which raised speculation that he didn’t want to submit to a background check, the Tesla CEO was sued by shareholders a few days later over his failure to report to the SEC that he purchased more than 5% of Twitter’s shares. However, that clearly has not impeded Musk’s hopes to takeover the company.

You can read Musk’s full letter to Twitter’s board below:

Chairman of the Board,

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.

However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.

As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before my investment was publicly announced. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.

Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.

Elon Musk