Elon Musk, Twitter File Paperwork For All-Cash Purchase Of Remaining Shares

Elon Musk has filed the paperwork needed to complete what some will call a hostile takeover of Twitter. The Tesla CEO has continued to ramp up his interest in the company in the wake of his crusade to revive free speech on the social network.

Twitter Inc., reported in the regulatory filing that Musk has proposed to buy the remaining stock in the company for $54.20 per share, or a $43 billion lump sum. Musk has said that this is his best and final offer, though the bid is not binding and is subject to financing and other conditions.

Musk said that he is making the offer to help restore faith in the company and preserve free speech.

“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,” he said in the filing. “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.”

Twitter board members have acknowledged the receipt of the offer and said that it will decide if the buying price is in the best interest of its shareholders or if it will continue to operate as a publically traded company.

Since the announcement, shares of Twitter jumped 11% before the opening bell of the stock market, though the stock is still down from its 52-week high of about $73.

Shares of Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer that Musk also heads, slipped nominally, about 0.9%.

Musk also revealed in other regulatory filings over recent weeks that he’d been buying shares — almost daily starting on Jan. 31 – and has ended up with a stake of about 9%.

Twitter had offered him a seat on its Board with the condition that he not own more than 14.9% of the company’s stock, a condition that partly caused him to decline the position.

Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” could also be saving himself some money if he makes the purchase as his Tweets have cost him millions in the past.

In 2018, Musk and had to pay $40 million in fines — and Musk had to agree to have his tweets approved by a corporate lawyer — after he tweeted that he was going to take Tesla private at $420 per share. That (of course) didn’t happen, but the tweet caused Tesla’s stock price to jump, which attracted plenty of attention.

Many left-wing pundits are opposing this maneuver as it could burst a hole in the bottom of the echo chamber that shuts down free speech, thought, and debate.