Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, a billionaire who is also one of Twitter’s largest shareholders, tweeted that he will vote to reject Elon Musk’s $41 billion all-cash bid for the company.
“I don’t believe that the proposed offer by @elonmusk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of @Twitter given its growth prospects,” he tweeted on Thursday.
“Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC & I reject this offer.”
The Saudi royal chairs the Kingdom Holding Company, the Riyadh-based conglomerate that first purchased shares of Twitter in 2011 before the company’s 2013 initial public offering.
KHC also holds large stakes in a wide range of businesses including the Four Seasons hotel chain, Uber, Lyft, and Citigroup.
Twitter shares were trading upward at the start of the day on Wall Street but have since shed initial gains. As of just after noon, shares of Twitter were down around 0.5%.
Members of Twitter’s board convened a meeting on Thursday morning to discuss Musk’s offer.
Musk’s offer price of $54.20 per share, which comes just days after he rejected a seat on the social media company’s board, represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s April 1 close, the last trading day before the Tesla CEO’s more than 9% stake in the company was made public.
“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk wrote in a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor.
“Since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”
“My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” Musk said.
Musk’s takeout offer for Twitter caps a two-week stretch of taunts he has launched on the embattled social-media giant. Shortly after disclosing his stake, Musk immediately began teasing possible moves including converting Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter.
Musk also has suggested adding an edit button for tweets, suggested that Twitter might be “dying,” and even scrapping its business model, which relies on selling ads.
In a Thursday securities filing announcing his takeover offer, Musk used blunt language, telling the Twitter board: “I am not playing the back-and-forth game.”
“I have moved straight to the end,” the entrepreneur said. “It’s a high price and your shareholders will love it.”
Earlier this week, Musk said he had abandoned a plan to join Twitter’s board, just as his tenure was about to start. Taking the board seat would have prevented him from a possible takeover of the company.
Twitter said in a statement: “The Twitter Board of Directors will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and all Twitter stockholders.”
For all the latest Business News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.