Business & Economy

Musk uncertain about success of his bid for Twitter

Washington, Apr 14 (EFE).- Elon Musk, reputed to be the world’s richest person, acknowledged uncertainty Thursday about whether his $43 billion offer for Twitter will succeed.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO told Chris Anderson at the TED2022 conference in Vancouver, Canada, that he was “not sure” the bid will be accepted by a sufficient number of Twitter shareholders.

“I do think this will be somewhat painful, I don’t know if I’ll be able to acquire it,” Musk said hours after announcing his ambition to acquire all of Twitter and take the company private.

He said that his attempt to acquire Twitter was not motivated by pursuit of profit.

“This is not a way to make money, my strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization, I don’t care about the economics at all,” he said.

The South African-born mogul has been critical of Twitter for actions such as its suspension of the account of former President Donald Trump.

Musk disclosed early this month that he had accumulated 9.2 percent of Twitter shares in a series of purchases going back to January, giving him a larger stake in the firm than any other individual investor.

Twitter responded to the disclosure by offering him a seat on the board, which Musk accepted, only to reverse course last Saturday.

“After the past several days of thinking this over, I have decided I want to acquire the company and take it private,” Musk said Thursday in a text to board chair Bret Taylor. “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”

“I am offering to buy 100 percent of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54 percent premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter,” Musk said. “My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.”

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, head of the Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), said Thursday that he opposed Musk’s bid.

“I don’t believe that the proposed offer by @elonmusk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of @Twitter given its growth prospects. Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC & I reject this offer,” the prince tweeted.

Alwaleed and KHC are estimated to control 4.4 percent of Twitter shares. EFE arc-ijm/mp/dr

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