Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter might actually be one the company can’t refuse, as he is reportedly meeting with executives this weekend, to seriously discuss his takeover proposal, TMZ reports.
The report which quoted a Wall Street Journal report stated that both sides are set to meet Sunday (today) to get into the weeds of his $43 billion bid which he put forth publicly, and for which Elon Musk also just announced he got legit financing in the amount of $46.5 billion to actually make it happen.
According to the report by Wall Street Journal, Twitter is receptive to negotiating a deal or at the very least, hearing Elon out and considering a final price tag, even though Elon Musk says he won’t budge on $54.20-a-share.
There’s more on the table, potentially than just dough. The report says Twitter honchos are mulling over a number of factors including a final valuation of what they think the bird app is worth, the possibility of inviting other bidders and maybe even insisting on Elon covering breakup costs if the would-be deal falls apart (aka, sweeteners).
As for why Twitter would even entertain this, Reuters reports they’re under pressure from shareholders who want to get paid out. Elon reportedly met with a select number of bigwig shareholders this past week to make his pitch on why Twitter would be better in his hands.
Among the things he reportedly wants to change (beyond his “free speech” objections) … allowing for longer tweets, and pivoting away ads. He also reportedly told several of them … you’ll never reach my share price on your own. Twitter’s closing price Friday was $48.93.
Reuters says some shareholders have expressed to leadership that not only should they talk to Elon and feel him out — but, more importantly, see if they can finagle a larger offer.
Time will tell if Elon’s willing to spend a bit more to take Twitter private — but he almost had folks thinking he was ditching this whole endeavor, tweeting “Moving on” Sunday … later clarifying that he meant teasing Bill Gates regarding climate change.
Twitter has an earnings call Thursday, and is expected to officially weigh in on the bid. Bottom line, Elon’s chances of taking over are looking more real by the day.