Elon Musk has offered to take Twitter Inc. private in a deal valued at $43 billion, lambasting company management and saying he’s the person who can unlock the “extraordinary potential” of a communication platform used daily by more than 200 million people, Bloomberg reported.
According to Bloomberg, Elon Musk said he will pay $54.20 per share in cash, 38% above the price on April 1, the last trading day before Musk went public with his stake. Twitter’s company shares were “little changed” at $45.81 on Thursday, “a sign there’s skepticism that one of the platform’s most outspoken users will succeed in his takeover attempt.”
The Guardian reported that the $54.20 offer price includes the number 420, in what appears to be a reference to the number used as code for cannabis. The Guardian also noted that in 2018, when Elon Musk offered to take Tesla private he offered to buy the shares he did not already own for $420 a share.
I’m starting to wonder if Elon Musk sees this as a big joke. It is difficult to take someone seriously after they have used the number 420 in not one, but two, attempts to make a company private.
In a press release on PR Newswire, Twitter Inc. confirmed it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Elon Musk to acquire all of the Company’s outstanding common stock for $54.20 per share in cash. The press release also states: “The Twitter Board of Directors will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the Company and all Twitter stockholders.”
To me, that sounds like corporate speak for, “We aren’t interested in this offer”.
This explains why I saw the word “Censorship” in the “What’s Happening” section of Twitter earlier today. It included a wide variety of tweets about censorship – from banned books to the idea of Twitter never blocking, labeling, or suspending accounts ever again.
Personally, I don’t think Twitter Inc. is going to accept Elon Musk’s offer. But if it does, and Elon Musk gets to make the changes he wants to make, there are other options for social media. I recommend Mastodon, especially if you take the time to find an instance that fits you.