On Sunday, Elon Musk reportedly met with the Twitter board of directors to seriously discuss the Tesla founder’s offer to buy the company.
Musk totally the board that $43 billion was his “best and final” offer for the social media company, according to Reuters. Sources told the publication that it was possible that Twitter might announce that they accepted Musk’s $54.20-per-share deal as soon as this week.
Elon Musk’s Offer To Buy Twitter May Become A Reality
It is likely that more information about the deal will be revealed ahead of their earnings share report on Thursday. NBC News reported early Monday morning that Twitter’s board of directors is currently holding out for other potential offers from interested parties.
As of now, it’s reported that Twitter does not have a “go-shop” provision that would allow it to accept a higher offer if they sign a deal with Musk. However, sources told the outlet that Musk would be willing to accept a “break-up fee,” should Twitter choose to go with a higher offer once a deal is reached.
According to Forbes, Musk is the richest person in the world. As The Blast reported last week, the SpaceX founder secured the funds to buy Twitter and is apparently ready to make the sale.
Elon Musk Wants To Obtain Twitter To Protect Free Speech
Musk explained why he wanted to buy the company at TED 2022: A New Era, which was being held in Vancouver, British Columbia, as per The Hollywood Reporter,
“Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square, so it is just really important that people have the reality and the perception that they are able to speak freely within the bounds of the law,” he explained. He stated that he also wants to “open source the algorithm” to improve trust in the social media service.
“This is not a way to make money,” Musk stated. “My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. I don’t care about the economics at all.”
Musk indicated that his acquisition of Twitter was important to maintaining a “healthy democracy” and called for free speech on the platform.
“If in doubt, let the speech, let it exist,” he said. “If someone you don’t like is allowed to say something you don’t like, it’s d— annoying. [But] when someone you don’t like says something you don’t like, that is a function of a healthy free speech situation.”
Elon Musk Claims That He Doesn’t ‘Own A Place’
However, many have questioned the father of seven after he revealed that he doesn’t have his own house and instead chooses to stay with friends.
“If I travel to the Bay Area, which is where most of Tesla’s engineering is, I basically rotate through friends’ spare bedrooms,” he explained in a conversation with TED’s Chris Anderson.
The SpaceX founder insists that he does not spend “billions of dollars a year in personal consumption” when asked about the wealth disparity between billionaires and everyday Americans.
“For sure, it would be very problematic if I was spending billions of dollars a year in personal consumption, but that is not the case,” Musk said. “It’s not as though my personal consumption is high,” he noted, although he did confess to owning a private plane that he uses for work.
“If I don’t use the plane, then I have less hours to work,” Musk explained.