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Rabat – Twitter major shareholder and Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has rejected Elon Musk’s bid to buy the rest of the social media platform.
The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Musk offered $54.20 (MAD 523) per share in cash to buy the social media company for $41.39 billion (MAD 406 billion).
Responding to Musk’s offer, Bin Talal said on his official Twitter account, “I don’t believe that the proposed offer by @elonmusk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of @Twitter given its growth prospects.”
“Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC & I reject this offer,” Talal tweeted, referring to the Kingdom Holding Company, which the prince owns.
The Saudi prince shared a tweet from 2015 in which he said that his and the Kingdom company’ share of Twitter increased to 5.2%, reaching more than SAR 3.75 billion (MAD 9.85 billion).
Musk responded to Bin Talal’s tweet asking how many Twitter shares the prince’s company owns, as well as its views on journalistic freedom of speech.
During his speech at the TED2022 conference in Vancouver, Musk said that he is “not sure” his offer to take over Twitter will be successful.
Musk added that if his bid to buy Twitter is denied, he has a “Plan B,” but did not elaborate on what he meant by that.
In addition, he said that his offer is his “best and final offer”, stressing that if it is denied, he will have to reconsider his position as a shareholder.
Why takeover Twitter?
At the TED2022 event, the billionaire stated that Twitter should be more open and transparent. “I think it’s very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech,” he said.
In his non-binding proposal to Twitter, Musk said that in order for the company to undergo the necessary adjustments, it should become private.
Musk’s reasoning for wanting to take over Twitter is that he believes that the company has the “potential to be the platform for free speech” which he considers a “societal imperative”.
Meanwhile, in response to Musk’s offer, Twitter said that its board of directors would seriously consider the proposal to determine a course of action that is in the best interest of the company and its stockholders.
Tesla CEO Musk became Twitter’s second largest shareholder after purchasing a 9.2% stake in the company earlier this month.
Musk’s net worth is estimated at more than $270 billion, but he is cash-strapped, with nearly all of his fortune invested in Tesla and his privately-held rocket firm SpaceX.
Read also : Elon Musk Becomes Twitter’s Largest Shareholder with 9.2% Stake
