Twitter’s board is said to be seriously considering Elon Musk’s offer

Twitter is probably close to an agreement with Elon Musk.

The social media council met on Sunday morning to discuss Musk’s unsolicited $ 46.5 billion offer to buy the company after he began raising funds for his offer last week, both said. people know the situation. The fund is a change in how Twitter’s board of directors viewed Musk’s offer of $ 54.20 per share, allowing 11 board members to take his offer seriously, they said. . folk. The Twitter board plans to meet with Musk later on Sunday to discuss further outlines of a possible agreement, according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss sensitive information. The details include a timeline for concluding each potential agreement and any fees to be paid when the agreement is signed and then breached.
Not every deal is far from specific, but Twitter’s willingness to work with Musk, the world’s richest man, is a step forward. Musk, who has more than 83 million followers on Twitter and has begun raising shares in the company this year, announced his intention to buy the company on April 14 and make it private. But Wall Street quickly turned down his offer because it was unclear if he could get the money to make the deal. Twitter also took the “poison pill,” a defensive move that would prevent Musk from gathering many sections of society.

Musk updated his proposal last week and called on Twitter to take his offer seriously. In an application for securities released Thursday, Musk described in detail how he obtained funding from Morgan Stanley Investment Bank and a group of other creditors who offered debt financing of $ 13 billion and another $ 12.5 billion in debt. against his actions with Tesla, the electric car manufacturer he stood up to. It is expected to add about $ 21 billion in equity funding. Now what may be impossible may be more likely. The situation with Twitter and Musk remains smooth and fast, said people who knew the situation.

A Twitter spokesman declined to comment. In previous public statements, the company said its board of directors “is continuing a careful, comprehensive and conscious review to determine the best interests of the company and all shareholders. On Twitter.”

Musk did not respond to the request for comment. The Wall Street Journal previously reported increased acceptance of Musk’s offer by Twitter. Wall Street is likely to see the opening of Twitter’s board in Musk’s offer as “the beginning of the end of Twitter as a public company, and Musk is likely to be on the right track to win the company if no other bidder enters the mix.” “, Dan Ives. , an analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote a note on Sunday.

Musk’s offer for Twitter was a 54% price premium the day before he began investing in the company in late January. However, Twitter shares sold more than Musk’s offer for most of last year.

Many analysts say they expect Twitter’s board to accept only one offer worth at least $ 60 a share. Shares of Twitter reached $ 70 a quarter last year when the company announced goals to double its earnings, but have since dropped to nearly $ 48 as investors doubted its ability to meet those goals.

Musk (50) explained that he sees many shortcomings of Twitter as a social networking service. He said he was “transforming” society as a “platform for freedom of speech around the world” and that he needed major improvements to products and their policies.
Musk tried to negotiate with Twitter through the service itself and threatened several tweets that he would pass on his offer directly to the company’s shareholders in a so-called “public offer”. A public offering is a bad move where someone from outside avoids the company’s management by asking shareholders to sell their shares directly to them.

He also behaved badly on the platform, which made him worry about how he would handle the service if he was ahead of her. On Saturday, Musk targeted billionaire Bill Gates because Gates took a “short” position in Tesla’s stock, meaning Gates bet the carmaker’s share would fall. On Sunday, Musk tweeted that he would “pass” Gates’ place.

However, Musk maintains friendly relations with some high-quality Twitter members. Over the weekend, Musk exchanged friendly tweets with Jack Dorsey, the company’s co-founder and board member. Dorsey resigned as CEO of Twitter in November and will soon leave Twitter. Both men have similar views on cryptocurrencies and support for greater freedom of speech online. When Musk flirted briefly to join the Twitter board this month, Dorsey tweeted, “Elon is so happy to be on the Twitter forum! He cares so much about our world and the role of Twitter.”

Friday revealed that Block, a financial services company operated by Dorsey, had changed its corporate title from CEO to “Block Head.” This change seems to be in line with Musk.

“Your new block name is on fire,” Musk wrote on Twitter to Dorsey on Saturday with two flaming emoticons to show his approval. Last year, Musk changed his title at Tesla from CEO to Technician.