OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk posted a three-word tweet on Monday that could mean just about anything but has some speculating that he is foreshadowing his next move to buy the social media behemoth Twitter.
In between tweets that wished the world a happy Easter holiday and the achievements of one of the companies he founded, SpaceX, he posted “Love Me Tender.”
🎶 Love Me Tender 🎶
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2022
Musk may have just had an inkling to reference the old Elvis Pressley song by the same name. Or, as CNBC reported, it could also mean that Musk is considering making a tender offer for Twitter as he continues to teach a new way of taking over a corporation in the modern era:
A tender offer would be the latest in the saga over his dramatic bid to take control of Twitter. Another tweet suggests that Musk believes shareholders should decide the future of the company, not the board.
“Wow, with Jack departing, the Twitter board collectively owns almost no shares!” he also tweeted Saturday, referring to former CEO Jack Dorsey, who is planning to step away from the Twitter board this year. “Objectively, their economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders!”
Last week, Musk made an offer to pay $54.20 per share to buy Twitter, which would amount to around $43 billion, per Bloomberg News:
Musk, 50, announced the offer in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The billionaire, who also controls Tesla Inc., first disclosed a stake of about 9% on April 4. Tesla shares fell about 1.5% in pre-market trading on the news.
The executive is one of Twitter’s most-watched firebrands, often tweeting out memes and taunts to @elonmusk’s more than 80 million followers. He has been outspoken about changes he’d like to consider imposing at the social media platform, and the company offered him a seat on the board following the announcement of his stake, which made him the largest individual shareholder.
After his initial stake became public, Musk immediately began appealing to fellow users about prospective moves, from turning Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter and adding an edit button for tweets to granting automatic verification marks to premium users. One tweet suggested Twitter might be dying, given that several celebrities with high numbers of followers rarely tweet.
Musk can afford a takeover of Twitter. He’s currently worth about $260 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, compared with Twitter’s market valuation of about $37 billion.
But Twitter’s board of directors moved to block the purchase with a tactic known as a “poison pill,” which Fox Business explained:
Twitter’s board of directors has unanimously adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan following Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $54.20 per share offer to take the social media giant private.
Under the plan, which is also referred to as a “poison pill”, shareholders’ rights will become exercisable if an entity, person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 15% or more of Twitter’s outstanding common stock in a transaction not approved by the board.
Reports noted that the board did not initially consult with shareholders, however, which some speculated could put the company at risk for a lawsuit.
For one, venture capital investor David Sacks suggested that the board’s action could be improper.
“Instead of accepting Elon’s premium to the share price, Twitter’s board is planning to dilute the company by giving insiders a sweetheart deal. This is a blatant violation of fiduciary duty and should be illegal,” he wrote on Twitter.
Instead of accepting Elon’s premium to the share price, Twitter’s board is planning to dilute the company by giving insiders a sweetheart deal. This is a blatant violation of fiduciary duty and should be illegal. https://t.co/irYHfsRWko
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) April 15, 2022
Political strategist Greg Price also wrote on the platform: “Twitter’s insiders essentially just decided to screw over their shareholders, crash their stock, and open the company up to massive lawsuits just to prevent Elon Musk from running Twitter in a way that won’t rig elections or censor their political opponents.”
Even if Elon doesn't end up buying Twitter, he just exposed the censorship regime in a major way. He's an outsider who won't play by their rules and they'll even deliberately dilute shares (which should be illegal) to continue their campaign of mass information control.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 15, 2022
“Even if Elon doesn’t end up buying Twitter, he just exposed the censorship regime in a major way. He’s an outsider who won’t play by their rules and they’ll even deliberately dilute shares (which should be illegal) to continue their campaign of mass information control,” Price added.
