Shares of Twitter rose on Monday, closing in on Elon Musk’s $54.20-a-share offer as he bad-mouthed the company’s board of directors amid rumors of other possible offers.
Shares rose almost 7.5% to close at $48.45 in the second full day of trading since Thursday, when Tesla’s CEO made what he called a “last and final offer” to buy the social media company. . The move was a huge surprise, even for Twitter. The board quickly implemented a “poison pill” to thwart a hostile takeover, even as its members said they were considering Musk’s offer.
“Board salary will be $0 if my offer is successful, thus saving ~$3M a year,” Musk tweeted Monday (in response to a tweet that listed Twitter director salaries).
Musk had previously tweeted to the board saying that “collectively, you own almost no shares! Objectively, his economic interests are simply not aligned with the shareholders”. That didn’t include Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who owns shares but plans to leave the board at the company’s annual meeting in May.
In some unusual tweets of his own, Dorsey also criticized Twitter’s board, saying “it has always been the dysfunction of the company” and citing what he called a “Silicon Valley proverb”: “Good boards don’t build good companies, but a bad board will kill a company every time.”
Dorsey stepped down as CEO in November. Twitter CTO Parad Agrawal now has the reins.
Twitter’s shares were buoyed in part by speculation that other bidders might get involved. Apollo Global Management has been talking to several firms about helping finance an offer, but nothing is concrete. The WSJ reported today that a possible bidder could be the private equity firm Thoma Bravo LP.
Companies from Disney to Salesforce.com have considered acquiring Twitter in the past, but backed off. If Musk raises the funds, most Wall Streeters seem to think the board should accept his offer, which is rich for a company that, despite being a household name, has struggled to grow and produce cash flow. significant.
Billionaire Musk is the world’s richest man on paper, but the deal, which values Twitter at $43 billion, would be tough even for him to close. He insisted that he will be able to raise the funds. Musk has hired Morgan Stanley as an adviser. Twitter retained Goldman Sachs.
Musk has hinted in another tweet that Twitter’s board of directors might not have a choice. “Love me tenderly,” he wrote, quoting Elvis Presley and indicating a hostile public offering might be coming. That is an offer to buy shares of a company made directly to its shareholders, without going through the administration.
Some analysts covering Tesla have been less than thrilled with Musk’s new distraction, given that he already has a pretty full plate overseeing Tesla, SpaceX and various other businesses.
Musk has cast himself as a fighter for free speech, speaking last week about the need to foster democracy in the US and abroad by reducing content moderation on Twitter.
Board salary will be $0 if my bid is successful, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2022
Reference-deadline.com