Topline
Twitter shareholders formally voted to accept Elon Musk’s $44 billion proposal to take the company private, several media outlets reported Tuesday afternoon in a move that largely Unsurprisingly, this added to the bizarre, dramatic company’s public showdown with Musk as the world’s richest man showing buyer remorse.
Elon Musk, last month at Shot in Texas, facing another hurdle in his effort to abandon… [+] Twitter purchases.
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Key Facts
Twitter announced the vote during a five-minute investor conference call, according to CNBC.
The vote was almost unanimous, as the company said preliminary tallies showed support at 98.6 %.
Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported Monday night that Twitter had enough votes to through this measure.
Twitter shares rose 0.6% to trade at $41.72 on Tuesday, It was a bleak day for the market.
Key Background
Announced by Twitter on April 25 , it agreed to a deal with Musk 21 days after Musk disclosed he became the company’s largest shareholder, which could set the stage for a hostile takeover. It was an odd marriage considering Musk was a harsh critic of the platform’s policies, and the spark between the two was quickly extinguished as Musk filed a July 8 filing looking to back out of the deal and dump the trash The existence of emails and fake accounts was blamed on the website. Twitter then sued Musk in Delaware Chancery Court to force the deal through. Last month, when a whistleblower complaint from Twitter’s former cybersecurity chief Peiter Zatko went public, Musk’s argument was backed up, saying the company had misled investors and regulators on issues ranging from user privacy to the presence of bots on the site. . A Delaware judge ruled last week that Musk could include information from the whistleblower complaint in his counterclaim, even though the court denied his request to delay his trial.
Large number
30%. That’s the premium that Musk’s $54.20 per share purchase price represents on Tuesday over Twitter’s $41.72 share price. Twitter shares traded at roughly the same price as before Musk disclosed he was buying shares, but surged more than $50 in April and May before Musk hesitated to go public.
Notes
Musk and Twitter’s Delaware trial begins Oct. 17 and will run for five days.
Tangent
Zatko testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday morning, detailing his whistleblower complaint and its connection to national security . At one point, he told lawmakers, a Twitter executive dismissed his concerns about the platform hiring foreign agents. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told Forbes
He was “deeply disturbed” by the testimony.
Forbes valuation
We estimate that Musk is worth $266 billion, more than about $100 billion. Much of his wealth is due to his stake in Tesla as CEO. Musk disclosed in August that he sold about $7 billion worth of Tesla stock, explaining that he needed cash if he couldn’t get out of the Twitter deal.
Further reading
Twitter cares more about growth than spy infiltration companies, whistleblower tells Congress (Forbes
Twitter shareholders ready to approve The Elon Musk deal – even though he keeps trying to end it ( Forbes )
Musk win asks to include whistleblower statement in Twitter lawsuit — but judge denies delay (Forbes
