Elon Musk said Thursday he has set aside $46.5 billion in debt and equity financing to buy Twitter and is considering taking his offer directly to shareholders, a filing with US regulators showed..The eccentric tech multi-billionare is exploring whether to commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Twitter’s common stock. Musk cites the board’s lack of response to his $54.20 per share offer to take the social media platform private. .A tender offer is a proposal that an investor makes to the shareholders of a publicly traded company. The offer is to tender, or sell, their shares for a specific price at a predetermined time..The capital funding includes roughly US$21 billion in equity financing and around US$25.5 billion in debt financing through Morgan Stanley Senior funding and other firms, including Bank of America, Mizuho Bank, Barclays, MUFG, Société Générale, and BNP Paribas..Musk, the world’s richest person according to a Forbes rich-list tally, on April 14 presented a “best and final” cash offer of $43 billion to Twitter’s board of directors..Musk said the social media company needs to be taken private in order to grow and become a platform for free speech..The filing comes after Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist,” disclosed a 9.2% Twitter stake on April 4 after criticizing the company and its chief executive, Parag Agrawal, and questioning whether the company rigorously adheres to free speech principles. .Musk is Twitter’s second-largest shareholder with a 9.1% stake. He said he would make big changes at the social media platform where he currently tweets to 80 million followers..“As previously announced and communicated to Mr. Musk directly, the board is committed to conducting a careful, comprehensive and deliberate review to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company and all Twitter stockholders,” the Twitter representative said in a statement..Shares of Twitter were down less than 1% on news of the funding, indicating that the market is still unsure about the deal..On April 16, Musk teased his Twitter audience with a possible tender offer for Twitter after tweeting the words “Love Me Tender” with music notes, a nod to the Elvis Presley song. On Tuesday, the billionaire issued a second Tweet that read ” _____ is the Night”, which is assumed to be a reference to the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel Tender is The Night or the Jackson Brown song..Ryan Jacob, chief investment officer at Twitter shareholder, Jacob Asset Management, said Musk’s latest filing would force Twitter’s board to respond..“They had to consider the seriousness of the offer, and this filing may do that,” he said. “It’s going to be hard for them to ignore it.”.Musk has previously made several announcements on the social media platform, including some that have landed him in trouble with US regulators..In 2018, Musk tweeted he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private for $420 per share. It was a move that led to multi-million dollar fines and being forced relinquish his position as chairman of the car company to deal with allegations by the US securities regulator that he defrauded investors..Amanda Brown is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.abrown@westernstandard.news.,.Twitter: @WS_JournoAmanda
Elon Musk said Thursday he has set aside $46.5 billion in debt and equity financing to buy Twitter and is considering taking his offer directly to shareholders, a filing with US regulators showed..The eccentric tech multi-billionare is exploring whether to commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Twitter’s common stock. Musk cites the board’s lack of response to his $54.20 per share offer to take the social media platform private. .A tender offer is a proposal that an investor makes to the shareholders of a publicly traded company. The offer is to tender, or sell, their shares for a specific price at a predetermined time..The capital funding includes roughly US$21 billion in equity financing and around US$25.5 billion in debt financing through Morgan Stanley Senior funding and other firms, including Bank of America, Mizuho Bank, Barclays, MUFG, Société Générale, and BNP Paribas..Musk, the world’s richest person according to a Forbes rich-list tally, on April 14 presented a “best and final” cash offer of $43 billion to Twitter’s board of directors..Musk said the social media company needs to be taken private in order to grow and become a platform for free speech..The filing comes after Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist,” disclosed a 9.2% Twitter stake on April 4 after criticizing the company and its chief executive, Parag Agrawal, and questioning whether the company rigorously adheres to free speech principles. .Musk is Twitter’s second-largest shareholder with a 9.1% stake. He said he would make big changes at the social media platform where he currently tweets to 80 million followers..“As previously announced and communicated to Mr. Musk directly, the board is committed to conducting a careful, comprehensive and deliberate review to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company and all Twitter stockholders,” the Twitter representative said in a statement..Shares of Twitter were down less than 1% on news of the funding, indicating that the market is still unsure about the deal..On April 16, Musk teased his Twitter audience with a possible tender offer for Twitter after tweeting the words “Love Me Tender” with music notes, a nod to the Elvis Presley song. On Tuesday, the billionaire issued a second Tweet that read ” _____ is the Night”, which is assumed to be a reference to the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel Tender is The Night or the Jackson Brown song..Ryan Jacob, chief investment officer at Twitter shareholder, Jacob Asset Management, said Musk’s latest filing would force Twitter’s board to respond..“They had to consider the seriousness of the offer, and this filing may do that,” he said. “It’s going to be hard for them to ignore it.”.Musk has previously made several announcements on the social media platform, including some that have landed him in trouble with US regulators..In 2018, Musk tweeted he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private for $420 per share. It was a move that led to multi-million dollar fines and being forced relinquish his position as chairman of the car company to deal with allegations by the US securities regulator that he defrauded investors..Amanda Brown is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.abrown@westernstandard.news.,.Twitter: @WS_JournoAmanda
