Many Twitter shareholders were probably ecstatic with this morning’s announcement that Elon Musk offered $54 per share to buy the company. In his filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Musk said the offer price represented a 54 percent premium over the share price before he began buying shares.
Not all shareholders were happy with the news, though. One of the largest shareholders, after Musk, took to Twitter to knock the $54 “final offer” as too little for a company with such strong prospects for future growth.
“I don’t believe that the proposed offer by @elonmusk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of @Twitter given its growth prospects,” stated Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud. “Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC & I reject this offer.”
According to the Saudi prince’s translated tweet, he and the Kingdom Holding Company hold a combined 5.1 percent stake in the company.
Musk, the company’s largest shareholder disclosed earlier this month he had accumulated 9.1 percent of the company’s stock. He initially expressed willingness to accept the company’s offer of a seat on the Board of Directors. He changed his mind without explaining why, but financial market experts explained that a board member is limited to owning no more than 15 percent of a company.
Wednesday, the billionaire entrepreneur made his offer to Twitter CEO, Bret Taylor, in a letter. Thursday, the offer was officially announced with Musk’s SEC Schedule 13D filing.
After Prince Al Waleed tweeted his objection to the offer, Musk fired back.
“Interesting. Just two questions, if I may,” responded Musk. “How much of Twitter does the Kingdom own, directly & indirectly? What are the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech?”
Musk, an outspoken advocate for free speech was making a dig at Saudi Arabia’s tight control of the country’s press. The Islamic kingdom reportedly lacks an independent media and keeps journalists under close surveillance, according to Reporters Without Borders, which ranked the country as one of the worst in the world when it comes to allowing freedom of the press.
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