Given the recent feedback of Twitter users, Elon Musk making the 9.2% purchase of Twitter was a fantastic move, and they are ready to see more change at the company. When the news hit of his purchase, people clamored over the Tesla and Space X owner and his visions for the future. Many have been using Twitter for years and are fed up with the lack of updates, tech support, and inconsistent policing of free speech.
The hopes of him changing the company and fixing issues by doing things like adding an edit button as well as the ability to speak your mind more freely have inspired people to sign up, reactivate old accounts, and buy Twitter’s stock. So, when he issued a tweet early on April 14th, his message of intent was crystal clear to Twitter users, employees, the SEC, and most of all stockholders that he is dead serious about owning the company in a specific manner, or not being involved at all.
In a tweet directed to the Twitter board chair, Bret Taylor Musk stated “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.”
A tweet of this level is a sign of a true desire to transform the company. For Elon Musk, he has seen the writing on the wall much as he did with Tesla. He saw the writing on the wall with them as well, and he sees how transformative they could be if only given a real opportunity to make full use of the reach the platform has. Should he purchase Twitter, Musk would control two of the largest and most influential companies here in the U.S. and across the globe.
With Twitter previously banning President Trump from its platform just days after the 2020 election, they effectively silenced his strongest voice to reach his fellow conservatives. They gave no real reason but given the insurrection at the Capital and his lack of tweets condemning it, they seemed to see it as a threat. Many people argued for the permanent ban and believed that he should have been allowed to continue, saying what he wants when he wanted to.
The previous bans had done nothing to quiet President Trump or his army of supporters. They were ready, willing, and able to see the writing on the wall, and would gladly defend him to the hilt if asked to. As a result, many left the platform over the lack of free speech. As a publicly-traded corporation and not an actual town square, they have the right to censor people as they see fit. Other social media applications do the same to their users.
Musk’s offer to buy Twitter also has the potential to do something else, get him in trouble with the SEC for stock manipulation. His offer with a 38% premium over where he bought in, and a substantial premium over the current price, has the potential to send the stock skyrocketing. Should he be unable to reach a deal to buy out Twitter and sell his shares (as he claims he might, should a deal not materialize) it could be seen as stock manipulation. They could levy a huge fine against Musk and possibly put some limitations on his companies. Any way this goes, he’s got people talking.
