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Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Backs Elon Musk’s Bid To Buy Twitter, Says ‘Fire’ Board Members

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary is praising Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s attempts to purchase Twitter and said he supported the idea of firing the social media platforms board.

During an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, O’Leary told co-host Andrew Sorkin that Twitter “is the most miserable investment you could have put your dollars into in social media. It has totally lagged all its other competitors.”

“The best way to look at this is, you gave them a decade, why not get the whacking stick out and just start all over again?” O’Leary proposed. “And that’s what Elon Musk is proposing.”

“The biggest risk for shareholders here, whether you believe in the free speech issue or not, is if Musk goes away,” O’Leary warned. “Then they’re back in the same miserable place they are now. … When you start to try and figure out who should have a voice and who shouldn’t, you’re stepping on the basic principles of free speech in America. And that really doesn’t sit well with a majority of the population.”

“The cost of free speech, the cost to society, is allowing the lunatic fringe to have a voice,” O’Leary said. “And that’s always been the case, back to when they were writing newspapers by hand. You gotta get over that, Andrew.”

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The investor wasn’t done yet, he closed the segment by boosting Musk’s bid for the company and calling for Twitter board members to be “fired.”

“It’s horrific what this company has done to their shareholders. I weep like a baby for them. I wouldn’t touch this stock,” he said. “However, if Elon Musk gave me a piece of the deal … I’d back him because of executional performance on everything he touches.”

“The rest of this board and those employees have done a horrifically bad job,” he added. “I think they should be fired.”

WATCH:

Musk is upping the ante in his fight to purchase the social media platform Twitter.

Musk has tapped Morgan Stanley to help raise funds, around $10 billion, to mount a takeover of Twitter.

The report alleges that Musk is prepared to use $15 billion of his own cash and will make his move within 10 days.

For this move to succeed, Musk needs a majority of Twitter’s shareholders to agree to a tender offer made directly to them by Musk and his backers.

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Then, Musk can change the Twitter board and remove the “poison pill” the company adopted against him last week, which was aimed at stopping his “hostile takeover.”

“The co-investors will combined have more equity than Musk but he will be the biggest single holder,” one source told the Post.

“Private equity firms don’t get paid for headline risk,” one source said, hinting that Musk’s ability to create controversy may scare off some investors.

“A lot of private equity firms are doing the work and struggling on the valuation,” a source said. “This is not growing like Instagram or TikTok. You can only raise $10 billion of bank debt, and then maybe some preferred shares. Twitter does not have a whole lot of cash flow.”

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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.”

Last week, Musk made an offer to pay $54.20 per share to buy Twitter, which would amount to around $43 billion.

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