China News Service, April 19 (Zhang Mingxin) The US Twitter company said on the 15th local time that its board of directors unanimously approved the launch of the "poison pill plan" to crack down on the founder of the US space exploration technology company and Tesla CEO Egypt. Elon Musk's "hostile takeover" of Twitter.
From Musk's announcement that he will join the Twitter board to his plan to "spend" $43 billion to acquire Twitter, can Musk's wishful thinking come true?
Data map: Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla.
Plan to buy Twitter blocked
The world's richest man has something that he can't buy?
According to Agence France-Presse reported on the 14th, Musk launched an acquisition of Twitter with an offer of more than $43 billion and plans to take it private.
In response, Twitter said on the 15th local time that its board of directors unanimously approved the "poison pill plan."
The report said the "poison pill" would allow existing Twitter shareholders other than Musk to buy additional shares at a discount, thereby "diluting" Musk's Twitter stake and making it harder for his plan to gain a majority. Vote for.
Earlier, Musk reported in a regulatory filing that he already owns about 9% of Twitter.
The Associated Press said that if Musk's Twitter stake grows from 9% to 15% or more, Twitter will launch a "poison pill program."
The Associated Press also mentioned in the report that even if Musk’s acquisition attempt is blocked, he can still take over Twitter by launching a “proxy war” and then through shareholder votes to decide to retain or dismiss the company’s current directors.
However, Twitter said the "poison pill" would not prevent the board from negotiating or accepting a takeover offer if it was in the company's best interests.
However, the "acquisition obstacles" faced by Musk are not limited to the "poison pill plan". According to the "Wall Street Journal", Musk may not be the only bidder for Twitter. Some private equity investment firms such as Thoma Bravo LP are also considering it. Take over Twitter.
From Board Membership to Acquisition
The feud between Musk and Twitter
Earlier this month, Twitter announced that Musk would become a member of Twitter's board of directors.
In response, Musk responded on Twitter that he was looking forward to working with Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and Twitter’s board of directors to make significant improvements to Twitter in the coming months.
Data map: Musk's Twitter account.
However, only five days later, Agrawal announced on his Twitter that Musk decided not to join the Twitter board.
After that, Musk launched an acquisition of Twitter, offering to buy 100% of its stock and take it private.
According to Agence France-Presse, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the 13th local time, Musk made an offer of $54.2 per share.
According to Musk's proposal, Twitter plans to take it private after the acquisition, which he believes needs a "transformation."
On the 14th local time, Twitter’s stock price rose as much as 13% and fell at the close.
Tesla shares closed down 3.66%.
If Musk bought Twitter
What will the world be like?
As a social media widely used around the world, the importance of Twitter is self-evident.
Not only ordinary netizens, but also multinational dignitaries and business tycoons often publish their official news through Twitter.
The New York Times described Twitter as "a tool that matters in the world."
What would happen to the world if Musk ended up buying Twitter?
According to Reuters, Musk previously said in a speech that "Twitter needs to be private to grow."
It is true that the "privatization" that Musk refers to is actually "Musk's private ownership."
The New York Times also mentioned that Musk's preference is to run Twitter the way he uses it: there are no restrictions.
The Wall Street Journal said that Musk wants to make substantial changes to Twitter.
The report listed some of Musk's views on improving Twitter's operations. For example, Twitter should be more careful when deciding whether to take down tweets or permanently ban users. Temporary filtering may be a better option.
The report also said that Musk suggested adding a tweet editing feature to fix errors in tweets that have already been posted.
Earlier this month, he polled Twitter users on whether they would like to add a tweet editing feature. More than 4 million users voted, and more than 70 percent of respondents said they would like the feature.
In addition, Musk suggested that Twitter's algorithm be open-sourced, meaning that others outside the Twitter company would be able to view the source code and suggest fixes and changes.
Image source: Screenshot of Musk's Twitter account.
In addition to the "imagination" of Twitter's operations, on the 18th local time, Musk set his sights on all members of the Twitter board of directors, and he shouted on Twitter, "If my bid is successful, the (Twitter) board salary will be $0, so that saves about $3 million a year.”