Elon Musk Makes Offer To Buy Twitter at $42.20 A Share

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Billionaire says he could unlock social media company’s potential as a private company

Twitter office
(Image credit: Twitter)

Elon Musk said he has made a $42.20 a share offer to acquire Twitter.

In an SEC filing, Musk said he owns 73.1 million Twitter shares, representing a 9.1% stake in the social media company.

On April 13, Musk sent a letter to Twitter’s board describing the offer. 

"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,” Musk said in the letter. “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.”

He said his offer represented a 53% premium over the price of Twitter stock on the day he began investing in the company, and a 38% premium over the stock’s price the day before the investment was disclosed.

“Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it,” he said.

Twitter was controversial during the Trump administration as messages from the former president appeared to frequently violate the service’s terms of services. Eventually Twitter shut down Trump’s account, prompting criticism from conservatives. Trump later started his own social media company.  ■

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.