Twitter Shares Jump on Reports Elon Musk Intends to Complete Takeover Transaction
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Twitter shares rallied nearly 13 percent on Tuesday after reports suggested Tesla CEO Elon Musk is changing course and will proceed with his purchase of the social media outlet.
According to Bloomberg News, Musk proposed to move ahead with his original proposal of $54.20 per share—or $44 billion—to take the website private. The news sent the tech firm’s stock soaring, prompting a halt to trading for the second time.
Shares surged 12.67 percent, to $47.93 a share, before trading was suspended. Meanwhile, Tesla shares erased nearly all of their gains after reports circulated.
Musk submitted the decision in a letter to Twitter, Bloomberg noted, and cited individuals who requested not to be identified while discussing confidential information.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Musk’s legal team had informed Twitter “overnight Monday” of the decision to complete his takeover bid.
“Writing was on the wall he could not win in Delaware and this saves both sides a long and ugly court battle ahead. Musk will now own the Twitter platform as an end to this saga and soap opera that began in April,” noted Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a tweet, who was following the news.
This past spring, Musk agreed to buy the San Francisco-based tech firm. However, after growing concerns over fake accounts and spam bot activity and worries that the Twitter management team has not been forthright in its public disclosures, he changed his mind.
Twitter immediately took Musk to court over his attempt to back out of the arrangement. The two parties have engaged in a legal dispute for months. Both sides were scheduled to appear before a Delaware Chancery Court Judge on Oct. 17 for a five-day trial.
Aron Solomon, the head of strategy at Esquire Digital, contends that “this is very far from over.”
“This is completely in line with what I’ve said from day one, which is that Musk will do anything to stay in the media spotlight,” Solomon told The Epoch Times. “He withdraws from the deal to get attention, and now he’s back in the deal to get attention.”
He cautioned anyone against concluding that Musk and Twitter were “close to the finish line at this point.”
Different Takes from the Twitterverse
Many prominent conservative personalities celebrated the news on Twitter.
“Buckle up, snowflakes,” wrote former White House official Sebastian Gorka in a tweet.
“I can see why Elon Musk would turn his back on the lying leftists at Twitter. But for the sake of free speech, I hope this deal still happens,” stated Brent Bozell, the founder and president of the Media Research Center.
“The first thing Elon Musk should do once he takes over Twitter is bring back Trump!” wrote Brigitte Gabriel, the founder of ACT for America.
Critics were quick to point out that Musk might be proceeding with the deal following Monday’s Twitter storm. Musk proposed a four-step peace initiative between Russia and Ukraine, which sparked outcry from the Ukrainian government.
“Elon Musk got embarrassed on Twitter yesterday by a lot of the Western world, and continuing this lawsuit would’ve meant releasing more private texts,” wrote NBC News correspondent Ben Collins. “There’s always a desire to over-intellectualize the decision-making of the richest guy in the world, but don’t over think this.”
Elon Musk and Twitter have not publicly commented on the recent developments.
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Andrew Moran covers business, economics, and finance. He has been a writer and reporter for more than a decade in Toronto, with bylines on Liberty Nation, Digital Journal, and Career Addict. He is also the author of “The War on Cash.”
